Caught in the Crossfire
by LoveFueledHate
Summary: "Logan- Logan, baby, you're hurting me." Charles has been with Logan for a few years now and even though he gets extremely close to violent Charles loves him... Or he thinks he does that is until he meets Erik. Prompt!AU!Human Verse Logan/Charles/Erik
1. Chapter 1

**This is more or less my pet project for when I get writer's block on my other fic WWIII.**** This won't be updated as often but I'll keep it going. :3**

**Okay… First time filling a prompt… I hope to god I do a good job. This is ****for the **_**amazing **_**Nehan Shinzui34 **

**Prompt:** _Logan is terribly controlling, overprotective and possessive of his boyfriend Charles. Charles tries his hardest to make it work because he really does love the man even though he can get extremely close to violent. One day Charles meets Erik and the quickly hit it off but Charles refuses to be disloyal to his boyfriend for fear of what he might do… Competition ensues. Modern Human verse! Erik/Charles/Logan_

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><p><strong>Chapter I: Like so many times before<strong>

It was just another cold Autumn night in Oxford. Fallen red and brown leafs were scattered over the streets and sidewalks, some crushed beneath shoes and the wheels of cars, others carried by the wind. Charles adjusted his scarf to protect himself from the cold breeze nipping at his neck and ears. He'd just finished researching his thesis in the library for the nth time and was heading to meet his boyfriend at the bar he worked at.

He was in no rush to get anywhere; he loved autumn nights like this one. Alone on the street Charles smiled to himself and spun around, arms held out to the sides as he tilted his head back. At the right moment the wind picked up and leafs swirled in a mini tornado around him. His smile grew wider and he laughed softly, shaking his head at his own silly action and the wind for encouraging it.

That had been something that only happened in movies when the female lead spun around in front of the male lead. Leafs would swirl around her and it would be that moment the male would realize he was in love.

Charles laughed harder. He wasn't a female lead or a lead in a movie at all. Charles Xavier was twenty-two years old and a normal life with normal issues, a normal apartment and a normal relationship… Well, as normal as a relationship with a man like Logan got. Logan wasn't the sappy romance movie type; he was all rough edges and hard muscles, a real man's man.

Charles loved the man, he did, he just wished that Logan took the time to see the beauty around him like the male leads in romance movies did. As it was Logan would have looked at Charles spinning in the swirling leafs and told him to stop acting so childish. He wouldn't have called him adorable or pulled him close to devour his lips because he was so mesmerized by that single moment that he just couldn't help himself. Charles wished he would though, at least once in a while.

The wind picked up again, rustling the fallen leafs and causing him to shiver. The cold was beginning to leach into his warm layers making the calm night slightly less pleasant to be out in. Spotting the bar, Charles smiled and walked a little faster. He was looking forward to the rush of warm air and noise as he entered the bar and the faint burn of a nice drink, not to mention seeing Logan.

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><p>A smile formed on his red lips as the warmth of the bar washed over him. Walking over to an empty stool at the bar Charles stripped himself of his scarf and heavy over coat. Sitting, he loosened his tie and waited until the man behind the bar would turn his attention away from the… rather busty blonde woman he was making a drink for. Charles looked down and his smile faded some, what remained of it was forced. He knew Logan would hit on the women at the bar so that he would get better tips but it never failed to upset him. He wasn't the jealous type but it bothered him and made him insecure to know that Logan could dump him in a second and get some hot blonde ass a heartbeat later.<p>

"Hey, what's a pretty thing like you doing sitting alone?" Charles looked up, a blush slightly dusted over his pale cheeks. It was just Scott, the bar's co-owner, "Oh yeah! Your boyfriend is a bastard who'd rather hit on women." The man's voice was louder as he spoke each word making sure to grab Logan's attention away from the blonde while simultaneously grabbing most of the bar's attention. Logan wheeled around shooting a glare at the grinning Scott.

Scott and Logan hated each other, everyone knew that but no one knew exactly why they chose to work together. They both owned the bar where they worked and kept it running with the help of a few of the students from the university working as waiters for the tables. The two were like little kids, constantly tweaking and picking on each other, the only time they seemed to get along at all was when they were both drunk beyond the ability to walk.

Logan stalked over shoving Scott away from Charles. "How many fucking times have I told you to back off of him, huh?" Charles reached over the bar and grabbed his boyfriend's arm, smiling when Logan turned his attention to him. "Hey, Logan, it's fine, he was just kidding around. Right, Scott?" Charles glanced at Scott who just grunted in agreement and walked over to the abandon blonde, making sure to bump Logan's shoulder with his own. Logan turned to grab Scott and punch him but Charles pulled his arm and called his name softly to draw his attention back to him, "Logan…"

Logan turned back to Charles, glaring down at the smaller man who stared up at him with a concerned look on his beautiful face. "Logan, he's just trying to get under your skin." Charles' accented voice was like music, soft and soothing like a perfect tender melody. Logan ripped his arm out of Charles' grasp before taking a hold of Charles' thick chestnut curls and roughly pulling him closer. Charles was lifted from his chair and forced to lean uncomfortably over the bar as Logan crushed their lips together in a rough, bruising kiss.

Breaking the kiss and letting Charles go Logan asked, "What do you want?" The younger man was used to this by now, Logan would ask then Charles would answer with, "only you," and then Logan would laugh at him and say, "I meant to drink." This happened almost every time Charles came to the bar and Scott and Logan were at it again which was practically every night. It was to completely calm Logan down and make him laugh. Charles truly loved his laugh and the smile that went with it; it contrasted beautifully with the dark, stubble cover face and huge muscles.

"I'm just going to have a glass of red wine tonight."

Logan seemed to ignore his request and placed a large glass of scotch in front of him. Scotch was what Logan gave him when he wanted Charles to get drunk. "Logan, I shouldn't tonight, I have a lot of work to do tomorrow." Again, Logan ignored him and poured his own glass and held it up for a 'cheers.' Charles frowned slightly then forced a smile as he picked his own glass up and tapped it to Logan's. Logan downed his single shot then watched Charles as he hesitated then took a sip.

Before he could set the still very full glass down Logan pressed a finger to the bottom of the glass pressing it back to Charles' lips. "All." Charles' brow furrowed as he downed another, bigger sip. "All." Logan demanded when he tried to set it down again. Charles looked at him with pleading eyes before averting his gaze to the remaining contents of the glass and then downing the rest of it. As soon as he set the glass down on the bar Logan refilled it. "Logan, you're going to get me drunk." Charles sighed, he really did have a lot of work to get done tomorrow and a hangover was the last thing he needed. Logan pulled him closer by the tie this time and kissed his slightly chapped red lips. "That's the point."

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><p>Two and a half large glasses of scotch later Charles was blushing and flirting shamelessly with his boyfriend. His crystal blue eyes were glazed over and the normally brilliant color dulled from the alcohol. "Baby, let's go home." Charles begged as he leaned over the bar to be closer to his boyfriend. "You know I hate pet names. We'll go once I finish here." Logan grinned at the adorable pout he received before turning away from Charles and heading over to another customer.<p>

Charles was left alone, unattended in a bar full of drunken men that could easily overpower him even if he wasn't drunk. The tips of his ears, nose and his cheeks were a dusted a dark red, a clear sign to others in the bar that he was very drunk and an easy target at the moment.

"Hey."

Charles turned around and stared up and the man standing behind him. The man was huge, tall, muscled with long hair and the darkest eyes Charles had probably ever seen. "Why, hello there." Charles smiled cheerfully up at him. "Victor Creed." The man introduced with a sly smile as he held his hand out for Charles to shake. The younger man looked at his hand a moment before taking it in both of his own hands and shaking it. "Charles Xavier." He slurred in response before he broke into giggling at the sound of his own voice.

"You have a cute laugh." The man complemented sitting on the barstool beside Charles who was blushing the deepest shade of red possible. Charles looked the man over to try to find something to complement him on in return. "Your necklace is very groovy." The younger man smiled as he reached out and ran his slender fingers over a large fang resting on the man's chest.

"Groovy, huh?"

"Very."

Charles tilted his head, leaning at little closer to examine the tooth necklace he held in his hand but the man seemed to misunderstand the gesture and claimed Charles' lips in a sudden, harsh kiss. The younger man protested with a groan and pulled back. "What are you doing?" Charles sobered up some as he looked from the man in front of him to Logan with wide eyes. Logan was staring at the two, anger writing all over his tense body. "What do you mean what am _I_ doing? You were the one _leaning_in for it."

Charles looked at him in distress, shaking his head, "I didn't, I-I was looking at y-your necklace. Y-you should leave!" He whispered frantically. "Why?" Charles shook his head again to dismiss the man's question, "please just-"

Logan's fist collided with the side of the man's face. "Logan!" Charles shrieked covering his mouth with his hands. Logan had left the other side of the bar and dragged the man off his stool, repeatedly punching the man's face in. "Logan! Stop, it was a misunderstanding. Please, stop!" Charles pleaded as he jumped off his stool and grabbed the back of Logan's shirt to try to pull him off.

Logan stopped only to shove Charles away before returning to his victim. The still-drunken Charles stumbled back trying to catch himself but fell to the floor with a soft thud. Scott had been watching the scene and jumped the bar when Charles' attempt to calm his boyfriend failed had. "Logan, get off him!" He ordered as he restrained Logan's arms long enough for the man to pull himself free and leave the bar in a hurry. "Get off me, damnit!" The restrained man growled as he struggled, finally pulling away from Scott who held his hands up in a surrender-like fashion. "Ok, you're let go."

Angered hazel eyes met frightened blue as Logan stared down at his lover. Charles shook his head in disappointment and stood up, stumbling slightly, before grabbing his coat and scarf from his chair and running out of the bar as fast as he could. Logan growled and stalked after him, ordering Scott to 'make his scrawny ass useful and take over' as he left.

He didn't find Charles outside and the longer it took to find him the angrier Logan became. His thoughts were going places that his rational mind would have known were impossible. He was imagining Charles running off after the man to check if he was okay. Charles was always the fucking saint, always making sure everyone was okay. The vile man would act like a wounded puppy and Charles would feel guilty and follow him to his apartment to take care of him.

Charles was probably moaning for the man right now.

Logan slammed his fist into the wall of the brick building beside him. "Fuck!" He cursed as he withdrew his hand, shaking it. The pain that spread through him was calming and he decided to go back to the apartment to wait for Charles to come home. That would also give him a bit of time to think of how he wanted to handle this without getting violent. He didn't want to hurt his love, that was truly the last thing he wanted to do but he couldn't stand the thought of anyone else so much as touching a single hair on Charles' head.

The only one allowed to touch Charles was _him_.

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><p>When Logan got back to the apartment he shared with Charles he was already sitting, slumped forward with his elbows on his knees, on the large couch. Logan shut the door and threw he keys down, the anger slowly beginning to rise again as he looked at his lover. Charles looked up at his boyfriend and smiled, it was a sad smile that vanished when he saw how anger Logan was slowly becoming. "It was just a misunderstanding…" He said softly as he stood and turned to face the man still standing by the door.<p>

"Did you bring him here?"

"No- What? Logan, I-"

Logan had crossed the room and grabbed Charles by the forearms, pulling him closer. "Do not lie to me Charles." He growled as he glared down at the young man. "Logan- Logan, baby, you're hurting me." Charles looked up at him pleadingly, his lower lip trembling slightly from fright. The iron grip on his arms loosened some but didn't let go. "I left the bar and came right here. I didn't even see him outside the bar." Charles whispered softly, reaching up and stroking Logan's stubble covered cheek. "I love you baby… I'd never leave you."

Logan glare softened as he stared into Charles' soft blue eyes. The remaining anger slowly washed away, he knew Charles was telling the truth, his Charles would never lie to him. "I do hate those pet names." He commented for the second time tonight, this time with a loving smile, betraying how he actually felt about Charles calling him 'baby.' Charles laughed softly, "Oh, you like them and you know it! You just don't want anyone to-" Logan cut him off with a kiss. Charles was startled by the sudden action at first but steadily relaxed into the kiss, returning it lovingly as he wrapped his arms around Logan's neck, drawing him closer.


	2. Chapter 2

**Oh come on! Logan's just in love and doesn't want anyone touching **_**his**_** Charles. I think it's kinda sweet... Anyway, time to jump right in with indirect shower sex and super sexy nerdy Erik… I'll shut up now. ;D**

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><p><strong>Chapter II: Missing papers<strong>

Midnight blue eyes slowly fluttered open, still heavy from sleep, and then snapped shut again. Charles groaned at the light streaming in through the large bay windows onto his side of the bed. Rolling over he expected to find Logan's warm body next to him, but instead he only found cold sheets. "Logan?" He murmured still half asleep as he reached out for a man that wasn't there.

When it finally registered to him that Logan wasn't on his side of the bed at all Charles sat up, immediately completely awake. Since Logan always worked late at the bar he always slept in, him not being there had to have meant Charles had slept in far too late. He frantically looked around until he spotted the digital clock on the bedside table. "6.15," He read aloud, relieved and slightly confused. "Logan?" He called as he slowly got out of bed. "Baby, are you here?"

Charles wondered around the apartment until he heard the sound of the shower. With a small smile he walked up to the door and knocked. "Hey Logan… Want some company?" When he got no response he wrinkled his nose and opened the door to peer in, the shower door was open and the water was running but there was no Logan.

"Logan?"

A hand covered his eyes and he jumped, letting out an adorable, shocked squeal. Logan pulled him back against his strong muscled chest and held him tightly. "I love the noises you make." He blushed feeling Logan's lips brush against his ear and with a grin he repeated his question, "Want some company?" Removing his boyfriend's hand from over his eyes Charles turned around to face him. The older man arched an eyebrow and grinned, "Always."

Charles giggled softly and pressed a light kiss to his boyfriend's lips.

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><p>"Logan…" He moaned softly over the sound of the running water as he rested his head back on the taller man's shoulder. Charles was slowly beginning to come down from his orgasm induced high. "You're so amazing." The older man panted making Charles smile one of his brilliant, glowing smiles that took away the breath of anyone who saw it, Logan always took pride in seeing that smile because he knew he was the only one who could make Charles smile like that.<p>

The rest of their shower consisted of light kisses and soapy touches to get each other clean. Charles was the first one out of the shower, shivering at the cool air outside of the stall. "I'm stealing your towel." He laughed as he grabbed the folded towel resting on the lid of the toilet. "What am I going to dry off with, huh?" Logan asked stepping out.

Charles slowly looked over his boyfriend's naked, soaking, muscled body and licked his lips. He smiled slyly and walked closer to him as he wrapped the towel around his waist. Pressing himself up against the wet body of his boyfriend Charles watched a drop of water slide down Logan's neck and chest before sliding his tongue up the trail that the drop had left.

Logan groaned and grabbed Charles' slender, towel covered hips and pressed him firmly against the sink earning a faint, slightly surprised gasp. He crushed their lips together before growling, "Don't be a tease, Charles." The younger man grinned and lightly kissed his lips before slipping from his grasp and leaving the bathroom.

"Damn it!"

Grabbing a towel from the closet outside the bathroom, Logan walked back to their room where he found Charles ransacking their closet, pulling clothes out frantically. "What is it?" He asked calmly as he sat on the edge of the bed.

"I'm going to be late for my first class!" Charles shrieked, stripping off his towel and pulling on a pair of boxers and an undershirt. Logan laughed as he watched Charles get dressed as fast as he could. "Maybe if you didn't wear so many layers there wouldn't be a problem." Charles just shot him a nasty glare while buttoning a tight fitting, white shirt before throwing on a cute black vest then pulling on black dress pants.

Charles had a habit of dressing in as many layers as he could; it annoyed Logan to no end. "You look like a waiter." Charles glared at him again as he pulled on a pair of shoes. "Don't be a jerk." Logan frowned at how serious Charles had suddenly become and stood up. He quickly crossed the room over to where Charles was now stuffing his work into his messenger bag and pulled the man into a tight hug from behind. "Logan, stop it. I need-"

"Shut up."

Charles went quiet on command and soon relaxed into the hug, absent mindedly stroking Logan's hands. "Stop stressing out." It was meant to be a calming request but it came out with the firm tone of an order.

Logan kissed Charles' neck softly, making the younger man sigh and melt the rest of the way into him. "Calm down and get to class."

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><p>Charles could hear his heart beating in his head, he felt as though he might faint as he stared at the large oak doors in front of him. He was late and class had already begun, he could hear the lecture going on inside. Taking a deep breath to try to calm himself down he opened one of the large doors and stepped inside.<p>

"Mr. Xavier." Charles flinched at the sound of the professor's disappointed voice. All eyes in the classroom were immediately on him, making him want to sneak back out the door before it swung all the way shut behind him. "So nice of you to finally join the rest of the class. We were just discussing the reading from last class. Do you mind sharing your notes?"

Charles nodded quickly and set his bag down as he began to scan through the contents. His hands began to shake with more nerves when he couldn't find the papers he was looking for. He had taken extensive notes on the previous class' lecture and the reading that had been assigned but he couldn't locate them. His mind raced a mile a minute as he realized he must have forgotten to grab them off his desk after Logan distracted him.

"I-I seemed to have mis-misplaced them, Sir."

"Late and unprepared." Charles flinched again and averted his gaze from the professor's. "Would you mind leaving until you can locate them." He opened his mouth to explain, to protest but nothing came and he closed his mouth before nodding and packing up his stuff, quickly leaving the large room.

Once outside he pressed himself to the large doors, his hand grasping his chest as his heart pounded from nerves and his blushed from the embarrassment. He nearly felt ill. How was he ever going to become a professor himself if he couldn't keep it together while simply standing quietly in a classroom full of students that had all their attention on him? Though teaching would be different than the experience he just had, he certainly wouldn't be embarrassed in front of his students but still he had to wonder if he'd be cut out for the job at all.

Luckily, this hadn't been one of his more important classes that he _needed_ to attend. Trying to let go of the last few minute Charles moved away from the door. He had a few hours to kill and the best way he figured to do that was by heading to the library and sorting out his papers and making sure he had all of his notes for the rest of the classes he had today.

In the library, he silently greeted the old librarian with a smile and a little wave. She just stared back at him with a slightly narrowed gaze. She didn't really like him even though he rarely bothered her and kept mostly to himself so he didn't make any noise or bother other students unless he had no other choice.

Walking back to an isolated area in the shelves he smiled and sat at a table. Dumping the millions of papers, pens, pencils and his laptop from his messenger bag he began to organize everything. He froze. The laptop. He had transferred all his hand written notes for the class he'd just gotten kicked out of onto his laptop. Closing his eyes, he rested his forehead on the table internally cursing his memory for failing him and causing him so much embarrassment.

"It's okay, it's just one class." He reassured himself aloud as he lifted his head off the table and shuffled through his notes, making sure he had everything he needed.

Once everything was in order and neatly laid out over the table, he smiled. This was where he felt a peace, everything neat and organized even though it never stayed that way for long. Placing the notes for his other classes back into his bag he turned to his computer. He had a lot of time still so he decided it would be a good idea to work on his thesis.

Charles was working to become a professor of genetics and human development. Ever since he was young the subject had always fascinated him and he would spend hours reading scientific papers on the subject. Needless to say he got bullied and teased a lot in school and at home after his mother had remarried an awful man with an even worse son. It had been as if Cain's whole purpose in life was to make his Hell.

But he rose above all the torment and graduated top of his class as valedictorian. When he got a scholarship to Oxford it had been a dream come true and the happiest day of his life was the day he moved away from New York to England to study the one thing he loved, genetics.

Charles' brow furrowed as he looked at the document on the screen in front of him. He needed to find his materials he had been working with last night before he had headed to the bar. Standing, he walked quietly through the shelves, smiling to himself as he gazed at the rows and rows of book all around him.

He loved this place, he really did. At the moment he was in the literature section, hardly the right area of the library to find texts that would help him in his research but since he had the time he figured he might as well grab something to read for tonight. Logan would be working late and he wasn't planning to go back to the bar after last night, at least for a couple days.

Letting his fingers slide along the book spines of a row, he closed his eyes and smiled to himself again, lightly biting his lip. He loved the feeling beneath his fingers. Stopping when his fingers found a leather bound book, he opened his eyes to glance at the title engraved along the spine.

"_La Tentation de Saint Antoine"_

Charles froze hearing a perfect, thick, French accent read the name of the book from behind him. Fighting down a blush at the sound of the voice alone, he turned and looked at the owner.

The man standing before him was absolutely breath taking. He was quite a bit older, closer to Logan's age, maybe even older, he was a lot taller, then again Charles was shorter than even the average man, and his eyes were a piercing green that seem to draw anyone who made eye contact with him in and keep them captive.

Charles hadn't realized he had been staring at the man until he cleared his throat and reached out to take the book Charles had just been touching. "It is a good read as long as you have a firm grasp on the French language. It loses its touch when translated." This time when he spoke his voice was smooth and intoxicating with a heavy German accent.

Charles opened his mouth to comment but any words that he could think of died in his vocal cords. Closing his mouth, he smiled up at the stranger, "I- heh..." He licked his suddenly dry lips and took a deep calming breath, "I don't how to speak French." As soon as he admitted the simple fact Charles suddenly felt like he should know how to speak the language, like it was supposed to be something everyone in the world could do but him. He blushed helplessly when the man glanced up at him from the book he now held in his hand.

"Are you a student here?"

Charles nodded and quickly held a hand out as his introduced himself, "Charles Francis Xavier." When the other man took his hand with a firm grasp a shiver passed through him and the faint heat in his cheeks flared, leaving him a brilliant red. "Xavier? Habla usted español entonces?" The Spanish accent was spot on just like the French one had been; regardless of the fact when the man spoke English his accent was purely German.

"I-I only speak English." He admitted before biting his lower lip and averting his gaze as he took back his hand. "Aha, my apologies, I just thought with a name like Xavier you might be of Spanish descent." Charles shook his head, "I'm American." The man's dark eyebrow rose, "It would appear your voice has adapted the local accent quite well." For the second time in the past twenty minutes Charles internally cursed himself but this time it was for the heat that flooded his cheeks, keeping them red with a heavy blush.

"Erik Lehnsherr, Professor of Foreign Languages. What is it you study?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Avoiding WWIII and sleep! XD Hope you all enjoy the product of my procrastination/sleep deprivation. Thanks for all the reviews and favs everyone. :)**

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><p><strong>Chapter III: Pickup lines and Business Cards<strong>

One mistake Erik would learn was to never ask Charles what he was studying. The young man was so enthusiastic about his studies that he could on and on and on about them until the person listening either fell asleep or walked away from him. Even then he would probably still talk to himself about it. He was so passionate about the idea of being a professor like Erik that the older man couldn't help but smile to himself as he listened.

They were sitting across from each other back at the table Charles had left his belongings at. Charles had grabbed two novels off the shelves under Erik's advisement on what would be a good read and had them set on top of his closed computer. He had completely forgotten about getting research texts and working on his thesis as he described every detail of what he studied to Erik.

"I mean the possibilities that can come from mutations are endless! It baffles me that no one seems to care about how mutations are what took us from single celled organisms to the dominate life forms on the planet!" He grinned as he took in a deep breath, but his expression fell when he met Erik's gaze. The older man seemed bored; he was just staring at Charles. "I-I just mean…" He averted his gaze quickly and fell silent.

A wide grin spread over the language professor's face, "You would make a wonderful professor. In fact we need more people that are as passionate as you teaching." Charles looked up and couldn't help but laugh at the shark-like grin on the man's face. He blushed at the complement, it washed away all his doubts about becoming a professor he had earlier and he couldn't hide his smile even if he wanted to.

"I adore this so much I even came up with Groovy pickup lines to use involving my studies." Charles laughed again as Erik's dark eyebrow rose. He knew he was the biggest nerd on campus but Erik had already survived the worst of his obsession so Charles thought he would share something funny about himself.

"Groovy? Didn't they stop using that in the 70's?" Erik asked completely ignoring the nerd pickup lines that Charles had pretty much offered to share. He looked Charles over; he hardly even looked twenty, and dressed far too formally to be a modern day hippie. Why he would be using a word like 'groovy' was a mystery to him.

"Yes, it was popular in the 60's and 70's but everything was groovier back then, including the word groovy."

"You weren't even alive back then."

"Oh, then why do you tell me all about it?"

"How old do you think I am?"

"Forty." Charles blurted out the first number that came to mind, the professor didn't really look forty, he was probably in his early thirties but Charles couldn't resist. The younger man laughed see the shocked, slightly horrified expression cross Erik's face. "I do not!" He protested watching Charles bust into more laughter while trying to stifle it with his hands.

"Fine, how old are you?"

Erik's breath hitched seeing the most brilliant smile he'd ever seen directed at him. With a slightly dramatic sigh he muttered just his breath, "Thirty-one"

"I was only nine years off." Charles whispered as he leaned over the table slightly as if examining Erik's face. "I guess you don't look _that_ old." He blushed when they made eye contact. Silence passed between them, heavy but strangely comfortable. Charles found himself wishing he could read minds so that he would know what the handsome professor really thought of him.

"So what are the lines?"

"Huh?"

"Your 'groovy' pickup lines, I want to hear one."

Charles' eyes widened and he blushed heavily, he really didn't want to share them anymore, "O-okay." He slowly stood up and walked around the table so that he stood right behind the professor. "Now please keep in mind you've had a couple drinks, otherwise I'll sound like an idiot…" Erik nodded and waited for Charles, who felt extremely nervous about doing this on someone like Erik. He sighed and cleared his throat.

Moved to stand beside Erik, leaning on the table he looked down at him with a faint smile. "EYCL1" He mused in a smoother version of his already velvet accent. "Excuse me?" Erik looked up at him with a confused expression that slowly faded as his eyes locked with beautiful blues from where he sat. "It's a mutation that occurs on chromosome 19 which influences eye, hair and skin colors. It's what gives you those gorgeous blue-green eyes of yours."

Erik stared up at Charles as he noted that the younger man really knew how to make that voice and those endless blue eyes work for him. "In other words having those color eyes is a mutation, before it occurred all humans had brown eyes. You are a mutant."

"Really?" Erik raised an eyebrow in an almost insulted manner. "I don't see how calling someone a freak would get them to go home with you. How's that working for you?"

"How about I tell you in the morning?" Charles purred leaning a little closer. Erik let out a breath of a laugh; the younger man was certainly good at leading the conversation. If Erik had been drink he would have cut Charles off with a kiss before he had time to end the line, but he hadn't been so he kept himself in check. Charles blushed darkly as he sat down on the table and averted his gaze, the confidence he had shown while trying to 'pick up' Erik quickly faded once he finished.

When Charles fell silent as a cue the show was over Erik burst into fits of laughter. "That was too adorable. Now does that really work on the girls at bars?" Charles' blush darkened even more if that was possible, "Well... I-I've never…" He looked down at Erik gaging his reactions "used it on _girls_." It seemed to take a few seconds to fully sink in but Erik simply raised his eyebrows and nodded once he got the idea. "I see."

Charles looked away again spotting one of the library's clocks. "I should go." He muttered as he got up and started to put his things away. "Hey, did I do something wrong?" Erik asked as he grabbed Charles' wrist, the younger man looked at him and couldn't help but smile. "No, of course not. I-I just need to go to class."

Erik's eyes widened a fraction as he, too, looked at the clock and stood. "I'm going to be late for my own lecture," He laughed before turning to leave the opposite way Charles needed to go to check the novels out. Charles nodded as he watched him go before he lowered his head, biting his lip as he headed toward the librarian's desk. That had been amazing, Erik had listened to him rant on and on about genetics and the complemented him on his passion when everyone else would have told him to shut up.

He sighed, wishing that it didn't need to end so soon.

"Hey."

Charles stilled hearing the warm accent behind him again; he turned and looked up at Erik with a warm smile. "Here's my card, if you want ever feel like learning to speak French, or Spanish, or anything other than English." When he took the card their fingers brushed and Charles' heart skipped a beat, another blush forming on his cheeks. "Very smooth, Professor."

"Erik." The professor corrected before smiling at the sight of the younger man's blush, "It works better than your nerdy pickup lines doesn't it?" Charles just smiled in response and turned away so that he could check the books out.

Heading toward the exit he grinned uncontrollably, "Professor Erik Lehnsherr…" He whispered under his breath as he gazed at the card in his hand, heading toward his next class.

The front of the card had his full name and title, an email and his class number on it, nothing more. Charles was a little disappointed there wasn't a phone number. Flipping it over, just in case, he found there was a hand written number and a note in tiny, messy handwriting that he could just barely make out.

_Call me if you ever want to get coffee or try to use those adorable lines after I've had a few real drinks._

Charles bit his knuckled gently as he tried to keep himself from giggling with excitement as he read the note again and again. He paused and frowned, technically it was his pickup line that had worked since he was the one who got the number. He'd have to bring that up if he ever decided to call him.

* * *

><p>Charles sat curled up on the couch with one of the books Erik had suggested in hand. The rest of the day had gone great, he had all the classes he loved; in fact the only class he didn't like was the one he'd been kicked out of. Though if it hadn't been for being kicked out of that class then he never would have met Erik, the reason he hadn't stopped smiling all day.<p>

Charles had the card wedged between the pages of the book he was reading so he could use it as a bookmark until he found another one and somewhere else to put the card so Logan wouldn't see it. There was no telling what he would do to Charles if he found the card and read the note on the back. Charles couldn't be bothered to think of that right now, he was too wrapped up in the amazing story he held in his hands.

He can't help but grin more every time he read his own name in the text but the slight similarities in the relationships of the characters made his stomach twist into knots. The book was The French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles. The male protagonist of the story, Charles, was a wealthy, sensitive, intelligent gentleman with advanced ideas in the scientific field, just like him but unlike him the character Charles was engaged where he and Logan are just in a relationship.

Charles shudders as he reads, finding that both him and the character find themselves attracted to people other than who they are with. The character finds his is attracted to Sarah, a woman rumored to have had an affair with a married man, while Charles finds himself strangely attracted to the handsome foreign language professor, Erik.

He couldn't put the book down for a second so when Logan walked in around 3 am Charles was still curled up on the couch reading. Logan smirked seeing his lover was still awake. He had had an extremely boring night without Charles stopping by the bar and was hoping to spend a little time with him like they had done this morning in the shower.

"Hey," Logan grinned, sitting beside his love on the couch; all he got in response was a faint 'hum' of acknowledgement as the younger man turned the page. He furrowed his brow, he hated being ignored. Running a hand up Charles' inner thigh he began kissing his neck. Charles groaned and gently pushed Logan away. "I'm not in the mood tonight." Logan ignored the protest and removed the hand from his chest, moving closer again he went back to kissing and nipping the soft, pale flesh. "You'll be in the mood once we get started."

"No Logan." Charles said more firmly as he turned to look his boyfriend in the eye. Logan frowned and sat back withdrawing all contact, clearly angry at being rejected. Charles' gaze quickly fell back to his book and Logan snatched it from him. "You'd rather read than spend time with me?"

"Logan, stop it and give it back." Charles tried to reach for it but Logan pushed him back, pinning him to the couch. He opened the book to the bookmarked page to start reading it to Charles, if they couldn't do what Logan wanted at least they could both enjoy the book. His attention was immediately fixed on the business card being used as the bookmark. Logan's expression went blank as he examined the card.

Charles' blood ran cold when he saw where Logan's gaze was fixed. His mind began to race with ways to explain that wouldn't make Logan angry but nothing was coming to him. The worst part was Logan was just staring at the card with an unreadable expression, Charles couldn't tell what he was thinking and that scared him the most. "Are you cheating on me?" Logan's voice came out cold, harshly measured, his eyes never leaving the card. "No! Of course not." Charles reached out to try to get Logan to look at him but the man smacked his hands away before he could even touch him.

There was a heavy, uncomfortable silence before Logan spoke again, his tone still cold but harsher, "Then why do you have _this_?" Charles quickly managed to think of an excuse that was more truth then lie, "A man at the library gave it to me after we talked and I didn't have anything else to use as a bookmark at the time so I used it. That's all!"

"Don't lie to me Charles!" Logan grabbed Charles' shirt and yanked him closer, so close that their noses were only a few centimeters apart and Charles had nowhere else to look except Logan's furious eyes. "I'm not! Baby you're overreacting. Please, calm your mind. That's all it was, I swear." Logan growled through clenched teeth, clearly no buying a word of it.

"_T__ry to use those adorable lines after I've had a few real drinks." _Logan quoted as he shoved Charles aside causing him to fall off the couch and land hard on the floor, hitting his shoulder on the coffee table. "Pickup _lines_ Charles?" Logan hissed as he stood up, looming over Charles, who was still on the floor, rubbing his injured shoulder. "We were just joking around!" He tried to get up but Logan shoved him back down. "He didn't seem to think so when he gave you _this_!"

"Then that's on him! I was only using it as a bookmark." Charles felt tears prickling at the corners of his eyes as he looked up at Logan face, redden with anger. "Logan-"

"Get out."

"No! Logan, I-"

Logan bent down and roughly yanked Charles up by the arm and shoved him toward the door. "Get out before I do something I regret." Charles stood at the door shaking his head. "Logan, baby please-" Charles was cut off when Logan's fist slammed into the wall right beside his head. It was then the tears began to fall and he shook his head again. "Get the fuck out NOW!" Logan growled and ripped open the door shoving Charles out of the apartment so hard that he lost his footing and fell.

Charles turned to look up at Logan with wide, tear filled eyes. The older man just glared down at him and threw ripped up pieces of the card at him before slamming the door shut.

Charles broke into quiet sobs when he heard the door lock. He slowly got to his feet and pressed at hand to the door. What had he done? Had he really just ruined the one good relationship in his life for a guy he knew for maybe two hours? "Logan, I'm sorry…" He whispered before placing a kiss on the door and turning to leave.

Pulling out his cellphone he flipped through his contacts until he found the one person he knew would be up this late, Scott. The phone rang several times but Charles used the time to compose himself a little as he walked down the apartment building's staircase.

"Hello?"

"Scott…" Despite wanting to sound normal his voice came out shaky and frightened. "Charles, what's wrong? Did that bastard hurt you?" He closed his eyes listening to the concerned sound of Scott's husky voice. "I… I just need you to come and get me, please."

"I'll be right over."

* * *

><p><strong>I've not read <strong>**The French Lieutenant's Woman**** I literally stumbled across it when looking for book titles that Erik could have given Charles. I read a million summaries and thought it would be almost perfect for Charles to read. (loved the fact the main character's name was Charles and the whole love triangle thing)**

**Huge thanks goes to Google for help on Charles' pickup lines.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Still avoiding WWIII and Sleep, thought I'd go ahead and get this chapter out of the way…**

**I thought I'd mention Jean… even though I **_**don't**_** like her… **_**at all. **_**(Supporter of Logan/Scott)**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter IV: Possession<strong>

Charles waited out on the curb, shivering from the cold autumn breeze that blew right through the thin fabric of his clothes. He hoped Scott got there before he was out long enough to catch a cold, which was highly possible since the longer he waited the colder it got. Charles shuddered, each time he closed his eyes he saw Logan's furious gaze locked with his then the door slamming shut on him.

He looked up from where his gaze had been on the leaf covered asphalt when he heard a motorcycle coming and sure enough it was Scott. The motorcycle stopped right in front of him and Scott took his helmet off to look get a clearer look at Charles' face, checking for bruises. Charles quietly stood up, hugging himself for warmth and walked over, letting Scott pull him into a tight hug.

They'd been friends for a long time, ever since Charles was first starting out at Oxford. Scott had been the one that accidently- as he says- introduced Charles to Logan. He always blames the fact he was drunk that night otherwise he would have never let someone as nice as Charles near an asshole like Logan.

Charles broke into soft sobs as he rested his head on the other man's shoulder. "Hey, hey, hush now… Don't cry over that dick." Scott sighed, "Let's go back to my place; everything will be better in the morning." Charles nodded, wiping away his tears as he pulled back from the warm hug. Shrugging off his leather jacket Scott handed it and the helmet to Charles who accepted them gratefully and put them on.

He climbed on the back of the motorcycle once given the okay and held on tight to his old friend. His eyes slipped shut as Scott took off down the street.

It didn't take long for them to get back to Scott's place but by the time Charles got off the motorcycle he was ten times more tired than he had been before he had been kicked out of the apartment. Maybe it had been the purr of the motorcycle or that the fear induced adrenaline wore off, but whatever it was he was thankful when they got up to the apartment and Scot got him pillows and blankets for the couch.

"Thank you for this, Scott."

"It's no problem, I enjoy the company. Since Jean's off in the states visiting relatives it gets pretty boring here."

Charles nodded as he made the mess of pillows, blankets and couch into something he could sleep comfortably on. As silence passed between the two his mind began to wander back to the fight. How could he have been so stupid? Leaving the card out… No, accepting the card in the first place. He shouldn't have accepted it at all but while he had been talking to Erik he had completely forgotten about Logan, forgotten about his worries and troubles too.

"So what happened?" Scott asked as he sat on the arm of the couch, on the opposite end of where Charles was positioning the pillows. He froze and looked at his fiend with a guilty expression, "I… I met someone today in the library. We were pretty much joking around and he gave me his card. I was using it as a bookmark when Logan took my book and saw it… He-he got angry and threw me out of the apartment." As Charles spoke his mind replayed the entire course of events that led him to be sitting on Scott's couch instead of curled up in his bed, pressed up against Logan's warm chest.

"Joking around how?"

Charles shrugged a little, "He was a professor so he asked me about my studies and I told him all about genetics and why I find it so interesting and-"

"Cut the science talk short."

"Anyway, I told him about my genetic mutation pickup lines and he had me try to pick him up." Charles couldn't help but smile at the memory of leaning on the table and staring into the professor's gorgeous eyes. "So I did and then I had to go to class so he gave me his card. See he thought I knew Spanish because of my last name and he offered to teach it to me when he gave me the card, that's why I accepted it in the first place." He was explaining his logic more to himself than Scott.

"So the asshole saw it and…?"

"Logan thought I was cheating on him… Which I would never-"

"It's okay Charles you don't have to explain any farther."

He nodded and smiled at Scott wryly. It was clear he was tired so Scott stood and ruffled his hair, "Get some sleep." Charles nodded again and laid down, tossing and turning until he found a comfortable position and as soon as he did he was asleep.

An hour or so later a loud knock woke Scott. "This better be fucking good." He growled as he got out of bed and headed for the front door where the knocking was increasing in force and volume. Charles was still curled up on the couch sound asleep, which was good, he needed it.

"Yeah, yeah I'm comin'." Scott growled as he opened the door, not removing the chain lock to limit the person's access to the apartment. He didn't want anyone he didn't know barging in for one reason or another, especially this late at night. When he saw who it was he frowned and rolled his eyes, "Really, Logan? Go home you can speak to Charles in the morning. After you've sobered up."

Logan stood outside the door, leaning heavily on it for support with a bottle in his hand and smelling strongly of the whiskey in said bottle. "Let me in. I need to see that little rat." His voice was slurred and Scott could tell that the bottle he had now was not the only one he had since Charles left. "_You_ threw him out; _you_ can call in the _morning_. _Go home_." Scott growled as he shut the door.

This only seemed to anger Logan and he slammed his fist on the door, this time managing to wake Charles. "Scott, who is it?" He asked his voice heavy and hoarse from sleep. "It's your drunken boyfriend." Scott said clearly irritated as he opened the door again to tell Logan to get the hell away from his apartment.

"Don't let him in, please."

Scott smirked, judging by the expression on Logan's face he had heard that request. Logan pushed at the door but the chain stopped it from opening any more than it was already. Growling, he suddenly threw his whole weight against it. One of the chain links gave and the door swung open, nailing Scott in the nose.

"Fuck!"

Logan stormed in, Charles stared up at him wide eyed and in seconds he was on his feet and backing away as the man advanced on him. "Logan, stop, you need to think rati-Ah!" Logan grabbed Charles and slammed him up against the nearest wall. "_Don't let him in_?" Logan hissed, "_Really_ Charles?" Charles was frantically stroking the older man's face and neck, willing him to calm down. "It's okay, baby, go home and I'll be there in the morning." He whispered softly, wishing Logan's vise-like grip would loosen at least a little bit.

Logan pulled him away from the wall and slammed him back against it. "No. You're going home _right now_." Charles winced and nodded, "Okay, okay baby, I will."

"Logan let him go." Scott ordered with a hand over his bleeding nose. "He's not leaving with you." Logan rounded on Scott ready to completely smash his face in until Charles grabbed him and pulled him back, so his anger was again directed at Charles. "Let's go home."

"Charles?"

"I'll be okay Scott." Charles gave his friend a weary smile as he was practically dragged from the apartment. "It'll be fine."

* * *

><p>"Logan, you're hurting me, slow down please." Charles begged as he was yanked down the stairs and out the door. Logan ignored him and threw him up against the passenger side of their car. "<em>Get in<em>." Charles looked from Logan to the car door and shook his head, "You've been drinking, please let me-" Charles' eyes widened and he went silent the moment Logan raised his hand as if he was about to hit him.

Logan had never _hit_ him, there was times when he'd been close to it when he got anger and/or drunk but never had he done a thing to intentionally _hurt_ his boyfriend. Charles closed his eyes and flinched, ready for the strike but it never came, Logan had stopped himself right before he touched Charles. "Get in the damn car." He ordered and Charles quickly obeyed out of fear. Logan had never been that close to hurting him on purpose before.

The drive was quiet, tense, with Charles sitting on edge ready to grab the wheel if Logan started to swerve too much and Logan taking huge swigs from the whiskey bottle, it seemed to last forever. When they pulled up to their building Logan looked at Charles then got out without saying a word. The younger man closed his eyes and relaxed back against his seat until Logan knocked on his window, startling him. He got out and ran ahead of Logan so he couldn't grab him again. Before tonight he had never been truly scared of Logan's temper, before he knew that no matter how angry Logan got he could always calm him down. Now he wasn't so sure about that.

Charles ran until he got to their apartment. It was locked, of course it _had _to be locked and he didn't have a key with him. He'd have to wait for Logan. He had wanted to run inside and lock himself in their bedroom to stay away from him until he sobered up but that wasn't an option now.

He stared up at Logan as he marched up to him. They held eye contact, Logan's furious glare boring into Charles' wide fearful gaze. Suddenly Logan leaned in and claimed Charles' lips, shoving him back against their door as he attacked his mouth. Charles protested at first but being unable to pull away and afraid of what might happen if he did he quickly gave in and kissed back.

Lips still locked with Logan's Charles hadn't realized when the door was opened or how he'd made it all the way to their bedroom until he was shoved down on the bed. Trying to catch his breath he looked up at Logan who pulled his own shirt off. Sitting up, Charles grabbed his boyfriend's belt and started unbuckling it. If this was going to happen it would be better for him if he just played along, he knew how rough Logan could get if he wanted to have sex bad enough. The fact he was drunk would only make it worse.

Logan shoved Charles back as soon as he got the belt off and before he could rid him of his pants. Moving farther onto the bed their lips found each other in another harsh kiss. Logan's hands moved from their positions on Charles' face to touch his chest, he growled when he found the soft skin was still covered by layers of fabric.

Charles started to protest when Logan ripped open his vest, ruining the buttons. "Logan, let me take-" He broke off into a soft moan as his boyfriend started to attack the sensitive places on his neck. He gave up on saving his clothes as he let his hands found their way down to Logan's groin and began stroking the growing erection through the fabric of his pants. Logan groaned at the new contact and ripped open his white button up, growling when he found Charles' undershirt. "Too many fucking layers."

Charles tilted his head back, exposing more of his neck to Logan's wandering lips. He didn't care about his clothes at all anymore, just the fact that his body was slowly catching on fire from the need now coursing through his veins. Logan grabbed his wrist and pinned them above his head with one hand as he moved in between the younger man's slender legs. He pressed his hips firmly against Charles' and was pleasantly surprised to find the erection strained against the tight material of Charles' pants.

He growled, biting down on soft, pale skin, as he tore the thin fabric of the undershirt. Charles gasped when a rough hand slid up his exposed torso; his shirts left on his shoulders but moved so Logan had full access to his chest. Arching off the bed Charles moaned and closed his eyes tight when Logan began to abuse one of his nipples, biting and licking the pink nub until it was raw and red to match the color of the younger man's parted lips.

Charles' head jerked to the side and he bit back another moan as Logan repeated the same abuse on his neglected nub. He tilted his head back; a breathy moan escaping his lips as his hips jerked forward, bucking up against Logan's, begging for sweet friction. He got almost more than he could handle as Logan began to grind down against him.

Charles needed this, his body was begging for it and his mind raced with frantic thoughts of this evening which were strangely turning him on more. "Logan, I need- I…" He tugged at his captured wrists; he needed to touch his boyfriend, needed to remove the rest of their clothes, needed Logan inside of him.

To his surprise Logan actually let go of him, Charles pushed at Logan's chest, licking his dry lips. "Pants. Off." Logan smirked and complied. He used the time to rid himself of his own clothes, discarding his ruined shirts, pants, boxers and shoes over the side of the bed.

When they came together again Logan pulled him into a heated, messy kiss which Charles broke with a loud moan, feeling the head of Logan's erect rub against his entrance. "I-I need… Please." He panted, unable to catch his breath.

Logan grinned understanding what Charles was begging for. He move away from his lover for a moment to grab the lubricant in the top drawer of the nightstand as Charles closed his eyes, readying himself for the feeling of Logan's fingers preparing him.

That feeling never came only a sharp white-hot pain as Logan entered him without preparing him. Charles arched off the bed, crying out in pain from being stretched too much too suddenly. Logan didn't give him any time to adjust to the large intrusion either he pulled almost all the way out then snapped his hips back in. Charles thought he'd never be this thankful for lubricate.

He groaned in pain with each thrust of Logan's hips as he tried to relax himself enough to enjoy this again. His toes curled into the sheets and his nail dug into Logan's muscled shoulders as Logan began giving attention back to Charles' neck, biting and sucking the soft skin until angry red marks appeared.

This wasn't about making love or even making either of them feel good like it normally was, this was about possession, reminding Charles who he really belonged to.

The merciless thrusts began to feel amazing once Logan started thrusting against the special spot inside of Charles that turned him into an incoherent mess of babbling for more and moans. But even as everything faded from painful to pleasure it all felt strangely hollow, like there were no true feelings behind any of it. When Charles hit his climax it wasn't Logan who he thought of first as he came completely undone.

"Eri… Logan!"

Luckily, Logan didn't seem to notice that he almost moaned the professor's name; the other man was too busy trying to seek his own completion, which he found shortly after Charles as the younger man's muscles contracted almost painfully tight around him. After a few moments of them trying to catch their breath Logan pulled out and moved to lie beside Charles as the younger man as he slowly drifted off to sleep.

.

.

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><p><strong>CUTEOVERLOAD: Yes, I am forcing my insanely cute drawing on you all! PLEASE take a look. It's adorable, I promise!<br>(audytheodd (dot) deviantart (dot) com/art/Lab-Rat-257759688)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Bit of a time lapse and mention of comic related stuff readers, I thought it would ****add to the… ****Je ne sais pas?  
>This <strong>_**was**_** gonna be really fluffy but I decided to save that for next chapter.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter V: Being someone else<strong>

"That'll be £2.50."

Charles nodded as he handed the cashier the money and picked up his tea to take a sip. The hot tea ran down his throat as he swallowed, leaving a trail of comforting warmth that expanded inside his chest. "Here's your change." He shook his head and turned away, "keep it, you earned it." He was already walking away when she thanked him but he could hear the glowing smile in her voice. It truly was amazing tea, completely worth the rather high price.

Taking a sip of the steaming liquid, he looked around the small café for a table off to the side he could sit at without being disturbed. The place was decorated with cartoonish ghosts and witches in the windows and jack-o-lanterns on the counter, clearly ready for tonight's festivities. In the front corner of the café under a ghost hanging from the ceiling were a comfy looking chair and a small table by the large window. It was perfect; he could enjoy his tea and stare out at the beautifully colored streets.

Sitting down he smiled to himself as his gaze shifted from the cute decorations to the window he sat beside. The street was painted gold and orange from the fallen leafs and the setting sun's rays giving the buildings halos of light. In just a few short hours there would be children running down the street in strange costumes and candy wrappers dropped and forgotten mixed in with the leafs.

Charles loved Halloween; he loved the idea of being someone completely different for a night but ever since he had been with Logan he'd stopped dressing up and going out to parties he got invited to. For the past three years on Halloween he went to the bar's party in whatever he'd been wearing all day. That was the plan for tonight, fourth year in a row he would miss out on the real Halloween.

Sighing, his took another sip.

Maybe he should dress up tonight; he could certainly use the escape from being 'Charles Xavier' for a night. Maybe life wouldn't threaten to drown him so much if he escaped into another one. Ever since the fight about the card Charles just didn't feel like he did before, now he was actually scared of his boyfriend. It had been two weeks since the fight and things were getting better but with each passing day he felt like his feelings seemed more forced than real. No! He loved Logan more than anything! He couldn't stand the thought of losing him.

As he continued to stare out the window he started to wish he was in one of those romance movies again. This time he thought of the ones where the male lead would see the female lead looking depressed and walk over to talk to her and try to cheer her up or annoy her, depending on the movie. But again, he wasn't a female or a lead though. As he continued to day dreamed of situations that could but wouldn't happen he accidently pictured himself in a dress. He began to laugh quietly to himself at that ridiculous image. At least the day dream had humor and wasn't just an ice cold reminder of a life he didn't have.

"What is so funny?"

Charles' laughter subsided as it slowly registered to him that he recognized the voice. _But it couldn't be him._ He looked up at the man standing next to him and blushed seeing it really was the attractive professor. "I was just thinking of tonight." He bit his lip and averted his gaze to the empty chair in front of him. "May I join you?" Charles couldn't stop himself from nodding but as soon as the professor sat down in the seat Charles had been staring at, he averted his gaze again, choosing this time to stare out the window.

"So what about All Hallows Eve made you laugh?" Charles took a sip of his tea to stall as he thought of some other answer than embarrassing himself by telling the man he was really thinking of himself in a dress. "I was thinking about what I could dress up as and then the idea of dressing in a dress passed through my mind…" Charles' gaze shot to Erik. Why had he said that? He hadn't meant to admit that. He suddenly began to feel nervous and uncharacteristically self-conscious. "You have the figure to pull it off."

"Should I take that as a complement or…?"

"Take it how you like."

Erik watched the younger man wrinkle his nose in an annoyed fashion and gaze out the window. It had been weeks since they met but Erik hadn't gotten this man out of his head since that day, not for once second. Charles was the first person his found himself attracted to this strongly since his wife left him. Quickly he shook the painful memories from his head and focused on the present.

"What about a mouse, or rat? You would make an adorable lab rat." He smiled as he leaned forward resting his elbows on his knees. Charles was cute and he was a scientist so a lab rat made sense, at least to Erik it did. The younger man looked at him as if he had been offended by the suggestion but then burst into a fit of laughter.

"Why didn't I think of that?"

"Je ne sais pas."

"I still don't know French."

"Maybe because you never called."

Charles tensed up and averted his gaze once more so he could avoid eye contact. "I lost your card." The enraged look on Logan's face from that night as he shoved him out of the apartment flashed before his eyes. "Are you alright?" He was starting to feel somewhat sick but Charles just nodded and stayed silent. He knew he should tell Erik that he had a boyfriend but if he did Erik might leave. He had seemed like he liked Charles when he gave him that card. What was he thinking? That shouldn't matter at all. Charles loved Logan. "I… uh… I just-I just was thinking that I have no way of getting a costume in…" He looked at his watch, "two hours."

"I know a place." Charles quickly shook his head at the offer. "I have no reason to dress up." He wasn't fishing for an invite to a party or anything, he was just stating facts but Erik quickly took the opportunity and asked, "Then why don't you come with me tonight? I _have_ to go to a party." Charles felt his heart stop at the invitation. It was sweet of him to offer but Charles couldn't accept it, he shouldn't, "I-Alright."

"Let's get you a costume then."

* * *

><p>"Scott?"<p>

"What's up Charles?"

"I need you to keep Logan distracted at the bar's party tonight…"

"Why?"

"I got invited to another party."

"Why are you whispering?"

"I'm in a changing room. Scott, this is… I got invited by the guy that gave me his card a while ba…"

"Oooh. So you ditch your boyfriend for some other guy that caused you to get kicked out of your apartment then dragged back and practically raped?"

"I-It's not like that… I mean it is but… I just need a night to…" He paused to collect his thoughts, "Scott I _need_ to be someone else tonight."

Scott sighed, "One distracted Logan coming up but you so fucking _owe _me."

"_Thank you_ Scott."

Charles hung up the phone as he looked in the mirror. His mind automatically switched from worrying about Logan and his real life to his appearance… and he looked ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. "Are you coming out yet?" Charles bit his lip; he could hear how bored Erik was in his tone, as if he wasn't even bothering to hide it. He was the one that suggested this stupid idea in the first place! "I don't think I am." Charles called back as he continued to gaze at himself in the mirror.

"Just get out here. We don't have all evening." Erik groaned as he looked at his watch. They had plenty of time but Charles had taken _forever_ to decide on a costume to try on and now he wouldn't come out, it was wearing thin on Erik's nerves. He sighed and busied himself with the wall of accessories that he stood next to while he waited.

"I look _ridiculous_."

Erik stopped idly flipping through the different pairs of costume gloves and looked over, when he saw Charles standing in the doorway of the changing room his breath hitched. The younger man was absolutely adorable but also strangely sexy. Erik looked him over, inspecting every part of the costume. He wore large, cute, gray mouse ears that struck out from his dark hair, thick rimmed costume glasses rested on his nose and a long lab coat covered a pair of long, gothic type, gray pants that were frayed from the calf down and a tight fitted gray top.

"No, you don't."

A light blush formed on Charles' cheeks as he took a step closer to Erik. "So it's really okay?" Erik just nodded in response. Maybe he should be a cat instead of what he had planned so it would be understandable if at some point during the night he gave into the almost overwhelming urge to shove the rat against a wall and attack those ruby red lips. A smile unfolded on those very lips, "I'm going to change then." Erik shook his head and tore his gaze away from Charles just long enough to glance at his watch.

"We need to go. Grab your clothes and we'll pay, you can wear these out of the store." Charles blinked and looked outside, the sun had gone down but not many people were out yet. "Does the party start early?" He asked as he went back to the changing room and grabbed his own clothes. "No, we need to go by my place so I can change."

"Oh, really? I thought you were already in your costume." Charles smirked as he walked over to the check out. Erik stared at him with a look of shock that made Charles laugh. As the cashier took all the tags from Charles' outfit and rang them up Erik came up and handed her his card. "I can pay for it." Charles protested looking up at the professor. "I insist."

"Would you like a bag for those?" The cashier asked as she gestured to his normal clothes. "Yes, please." Charles nodded handing them over so she could bag them. As yet another smile spread over his face he realized this was the first time he had smiled this much in a long time, his face actually hurt from smiling so much.

Erik got his card back and led Charles toward the exit when he got his bag of normal clothes. "Hang on." Charles stopped and started to take his mouse ears off but Erik quickly stopped him, grabbing his wrists. "Leave them be." Charles tilted his head to the side and lowered his hands.

A long silence passed between them, gazes locked and Erik still holding onto Charles' wrists before he suddenly let him go and exited the shop. "Let's go."


	6. Chapter 6

**Guess I can't have Lab rat Charles without Shark Erik right? I think I get props or something for being creative with the type of… You know I'm just gonna let you all read it. And I literally face palmed when I wrote the thing about go-fish  
>WWIII is kicking my ass.<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter VI: The moon and Red leafs<strong>

Erik's house wasn't really something one might have expected, it was simply decorated but also had a 'womanly tough' to it as if Erik had a girlfriend that helped him decorate. This place didn't have 'bachelor pad' written anywhere, it was practically perfect like those houses in magazines, everything clean and nearly sparkling. Charles expected to see pictures of Erik with a girlfriend or a female roommate's pictures or something to tell him if Erik really was single or not, but there were none; there weren't any pictures at all.

Charles held his breath as he sat on the couch while he waited for Erik. Why was he even wondering if Erik was single or not? It didn't matter. But if he had a girlfriend then why did he invite him out tonight? Erik was extremely attractive it wouldn't be surprising if he had a girlfriend or something. As Charles tried to push the thoughts of Erik not being single from his head he couldn't ignore the tightening feeling he had inside his chest.

His phone vibrated, telling he got a text and he pushed all thoughts and feelings aside as he quickly pulled it out. It was from Logan. He swallowed thickly as he flipped open his phone to read the message.

_Party at the bar. Where are you? _

Charles frowned as he thought of a response. He could lie and tell Logan he was at the library or talking to a professor which wasn't a total lie. He closed his eyes, since when had he been so willing to lie to his boyfriend? He shut his phone and opened his eyes. He just wouldn't answer.

Hearing footsteps he pocketed his phone and turned to see Erik walking down the stairs. He wore a white button up with black bands around his elbows and a black tie with a red vest that had black buttons. For bottoms he just wore dress pants and shiny black shoes while on his head he wore a green visor. Charles tilted his head not really understanding what Erik was trying to be.

"What are you?"

Erik looked down at his outfit then to Charles sitting on the edge of the couch with his head tilted adorably to the side, almost like a real rat might. He grinned widely and straightened his vest before pulling out a deck of cards, "A card shark." When Charles laughed he guessed he still didn't quite get it. "You should have been a real shark; you have the grin for it."

The professor was about to object but when he saw the smile on Charles's lips and that sparkle in his eyes he was lost for words. This young man was something else, something almost other worldly. He was almost angelic with his white skin and gorgeous blue eyes. Erik nearly let it slip that Charles should have been an angel because that would have better suited him but he decided to keep that to himself.

"Shall we go?"

Charles smiled and hopped up from his seat, "Yes, of course." The small part of his brain that was fixated on the décor kept wanting to ask about it which fed the larger part of his brain that was begging to know if Erik was single. "I love what you did with the place." He commented as he exited the front door ahead of Erik who grabbed his keys and locked it.

When he didn't get a response he looked over at Erik. His chest tightened seeing the faraway look in the other man's eyes as if he was remembering something heartbreaking. Finally after a long silence, Erik shook his head and smiled, "It wasn't my doing. Let's go to the party."

Charles smiled just seeing Erik's smile and nodded as he made a mental note not to bring up the interior again. "Okay."

The night air was cold but not unpleasant. Laughing and screaming and other ghostly noises filled the dark streets. Children in costumes ran passed the two men as they made their way down the street. Charles watched the kids pass them and smiled.

They walked in silence but it wasn't awkward, strangely every time the conversation died down between the two and silence took hold it was comforting. Whenever silence passed between Charles and Logan the former always felt tense and awkward like he should keep the latter entertained every second. It was impossible for Charles to just _be_ with Logan, well impossible in this way.

It wasn't long before they came to a house that was the most lavishly decorated on the street in nightmarish creatures, fog and lights and to top it off it looked like a real haunted house. Charles could hear music coming from inside and he figured this was where the party was before Erik even had time to say, "This is the place." Erik smiled as he led Charles up the driveway to the path that led to the front door.

Suddenly someone dressed in black jumped out of the shadows, screaming and made as if to grab Charles. Caught off guard Charles grabbed a hold of Erik's arm like a frightened child might. The person in black's hands stopped inches from touching Charles before withdrawing them and unmasking herself. "Oh Erik, you're no fun to scare." The blonde girl laughed, "Seems I got your friend though."

A blush of embarrassment spread over Charles' cheeks as he quickly let go of Erik and took a step back from the two. Erik hadn't even flinched and he freaked out. Someone jumped out from the bushes behind him and screamed in his ear. Charles yelped and grabbed a hold of Erik's arm again. He felt like an idiot enough but when the blonde girl and Erik started laughing he wanted to hide away.

"Looks like you brought an actual mouse dressed up as a human, Lehnsherr." This time it was a man with a heavy Russian accent that spoke. Charles looked over at him and nearly shrieked again. This one was dressed as the Devil, red skin and all. "Raven and Azazel this is Charles." Erik introduced looking down at the young man still clinging to his arm.

"I'm Raven, He's husband, Azazel." The blonde girl smiled as she held her hand out to Charles. "Erik didn't say he was bringing someone." She glanced at Erik as her and Charles shook hands. "It was a last minute thing I guess." Erik shrugged as he wrapped an arm around Charles' waist. "Last minute huh? Well it's nice to meet you Charles."

"Likewise." He smiled warmly even though he still felt a little rattled and confused. A blush was practically permanently painted on his cheeks feeling Erik's arm around him. There was something about Erik's hand resting on his waist that just seemed so strangely right that it made Charles a little weak in the knees to think about.

"Let's go inside." Raven smiled leading the way.

"Don't you have other people to scare?" Erik questioned.

"No. That was special, just for you."

"I feel honored."

"Good, you should."

Charles listened to the friendly banter until they got inside when it stopped. Music and warmth enveloped them as soon as the door opened. It was a chill atmosphere until people crowded over to greet Erik, seemingly surprised that he actually came. Charles pulled away and ducked through the crowd to get to a more open space. He looked back at the crowd around Erik and smiled, he was popular for a professor.

"Mr. Xavier."

Charles froze. He knew that voice, why did he know that voice? Slowly he turned around to face whoever had recognized him. His eyes widened a fraction seeing who it was. "Professor Toa-Toynbee!" He exclaimed, nearly slipping up and calling the professor by his student-appointed nickname 'Toad.' Charles hated him as much as every other student that took his class, the man was vile, mean and just a pervert but Charles forced a smile and a cheery tone.

"What are you doing here, Xavier?"

"I was invited."

"This is a grown up party. Children aren't allowed. Unless…"

Charles would have told him off for calling him a child if it wasn't for the fact the professor was terrible enough already and he was getting uncomfortably close. Charles stepped back from the man only to bump into someone behind him. When he looked up he smiled seeing it was Erik. "Mortimer." Charles' smile fell when he heard Erik's cold tone as he regarded the other.

What if Erik went off like Logan sometimes did? Charles hoped it wouldn't come down to that, after all the man hadn't done anything to deserve something like that.

"Erik, it's nice to see you out and about for once."

"Have you met Charles? He's here with me."

"I have. I have the pleasure of having this cute little mouse in my class." Something about the way Professor Toad said the word 'pleasure' and 'cute little mouse' made Charles' skin start to crawl. It only got worse when he felt the man's eyes raking all over his body. He closed his eyes and wished Erik would make the man leave. As if he read his mind Erik's arm snaked around his waist again.

"Well if you'll excuse us, I'm sure you two can catch up in class." Erik didn't wait for a response to know if they really were excused or not as he led Charles quickly away. Charles looked up at him once they found a place to sit that wasn't crowded with other people talking or swaying to the music. "Thanks for that."

"No problem, want something to drink?"

"Ah-I'm just going to have a beer." Erik nodded and walked off once he was sure that no one that would bother Charles was aroud. "Be back."

Charles looked around at all the people and their costumes as he waited for Erik to return with his drink. He had to admit he was now on edge, looking for his other professors now to makes sure he avoided them. When he saw no one he recognized he relaxed a little but he really hoped Erik would just bring him a beer and not a scotch or some other drink that would surely get him drunk way too fast like Logan always did. He'd rather not make an ass out of himself just in case another professor showed up. He smiled though, remembering this was Erik and not Logan and Erik didn't seem like the type of guy to do that.

He felt his phone vibrate in his back pocket and he jumped. He hated that feeling, why did he continue to keep his phone in his back pocket? Looking at the screen he saw it was another message from Logan. His stomach tied in knots as he opened it.

_Get here. Now._

Charles grimaced at the thought of Logan getting angry; maybe he should go to the bar but when Charles saw Erik making his way through the crowd he smiled. He put his phone away and looked back at the man heading toward him. His smile vanished when he saw Erik was carrying a rather large glass of scotch or other amber liquid that wasn't beer. He didn't bother to even look in Erik's other hand as he got off his seat and made his way through the crowd, away from Erik. Maybe his hopes were too high. He should leave and go to the bar.

Erik frowned seeing Charles walking away from him. Was something wrong? The younger man had had his phone out, so did he get bad news or something to cause him to need to leave? Erik took a quick drink of scotch so it wouldn't spill as he walked faster to catch up with the lab rat. Tucking the beer bottle under his arm he grabbed the other's arm to stop him. "Charles is something wrong?" The other just shook his head, gaze fixed on the floor. "Do you need to leave?" Another head shake, but this time with a shrug added to it. "Well, I got you a beer."

When Charles finally looked at him confusion was written on his face. "Wasn't that what you ordered?" Erik asked letting go of Charles' arm so he could hand him his beer. "It's a twist off cap."

Charles smiled when Erik handed him the bottle. He was an idiot. Erik wasn't the type of guy that would ignore his request and he didn't know what got Charles drunk in the first place so why was he so worried about it? He shoved the thought that it was because he didn't want Erik to be like Logan out of his head as soon as it entered.

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><p>The party ran late, people showing up and leaving until only a handful of people were left, Charles and Erik were two of them. Charles was drunk; he had ended up trying a variety of drinks made by an attractive Hispanic fellow throughout the night. Erik, on the other hand, had only had a few drinks and only had a pleasant alcohol buzz. The two sat in the same spot they had been in all night talking and laughing and playing go-fish, Charles' idea, with the cards Erik had brought as part of his costume.<p>

"No, no Go fish." Charles grinned looking at his cards, "Oh and Erik, don't eat the 'fish' either, they're just cards." Erik sighed but couldn't help smiling a little at the comment, that was the nth time Charles had tried and failed to make a shark joke about his grin.

"Hey Erik," Raven smiled as she walked over with a big black trash bag, "I think the party's pretty much over." Erik glanced at his watch, "When did it get to be 3.30?" Raven smiled at him, "time flies when you're actually having fun." He didn't miss the glance she shot Charles' way when she said the word fun. It had been a long time since he had been out and actually had fun and if Charles hadn't come both he and Raven knew he probably would have left hours ago. "Need me to help clean up?" He offered as he gathered the cards up.

"No, we got this, you should take him home." She winked, clearly suggesting he take Charles to his home and not Charles'. He shook his head and looked down at the lab rat. "Ready to go?" Charles nodded and stood up, clearly too fast since he swayed and Erik had to grab him to keep him from falling back down. Charles leaned heavily on him as they walked toward the exit but he didn't mind, it was nice having the young man this close.

He thanked Azazel on the way out and he, like Raven, suggested he should take Charles home and 'put him to bed.' Now these suggestions on what he should do with Charles all sounded like what he should actually do but since they came from those two he knew they meant for him to take advantage of the drunken Charles. He was above stooping that low.

"Erik?"

"Hm?"

"If I had used those pickup lines on you from the library in a real setting, would they have worked?"

Erik stopped walking down the street and looked down at Charles, who was staring at him with those gorgeous, alcohol clouded, blue eyes. No, those lines wouldn't have worked on him but those eyes and that voice would have. "Yes." That seemed to be what Charles was hoping to hear because a huge grin spread over his ruby lips.

They started walking again, slowly making their way down the street. Erik's gaze was fixed on the leaf covered sidewalk as he tried to clear his head of the thoughts that his two friends had implanted in his mind it didn't help that Charles was nuzzling his shoulder as he clung to his arm. Erik stopped at the end of the street where the road forked and frowned slightly, "Charles, where do you live?"

"Let's just go to your place."

Erik was _not_ blushing at the thoughts that passed through his mind of Charles stretched out on his bed. His cheeks were just warm was all; it _wasn't _a blush spreading over his face. "Where do you live?" He tried again, hoping this time to get an actual answer. Instead of answering the question Charles just stared him in the eye with an intense, blue gaze and when he spoke it had nothing to do with the question. "You're eyes are so gorgeous… They're the color of the moon right now…"

A heavy, tense silence passed between them as neither broke eye contact. Charles bit his bottom lip as Erik's fingers brushed against his cheek. The world seemed to slow down around them just like it did in movies when the leads were about to kiss for the first time. Was Erik going to kiss him? His heart hammered in his chest with excitement at the possibility of having the professor's lips against his.

Charles' eyes slowly slipped half way shut as Erik leaned a little closer. It was the perfect set up for a kiss until a car alarm when off, shattering the moment. Charles could have cried at the disappointment that spread through his mind. Erik backed off again and shook his head. "So where do you live?" Charles sighed a little sadly, "Just a little ways away from the university."

They walked together in silence, both lost in their own thoughts. Charles used the time to sober up more as he led the way to his apartment. Hopefully Logan would be passed out in bed. Scott had a way of getting the man to drink afterall. His mind raced with ways to say bye to Erik so he wouldn't come up to the apartment, just in case Logan was still awake.

"Freeze."

Charles did as he was told, stopping mid-step as he looked at Erik who bent down and picked up a leaf. Charles wrinkled his nose in confusion as Erik held the red leaf in front of his face. "It's the same color as those red lips of yours." Charles blushed and cracked a smile at Erik's silly attempt at being romantic. "I hardly think so…"

"Shut up Charles." Erik grinned before claiming the younger man's lips with his own. Charles' eyes widened at first from the suddenness of the kiss but he quickly shut them as he returned it. The kiss was amazing, one of the most perfect he had ever experienced. Charles easily got lost in the movement of their lips and the feeling of Erik's hands in his hair and on his lower back drawing him closer. He moaned softly into the kiss, willingly allowing Erik's tongue to explore his mouth.

Slowly they pulled back when they both needed to catch their breath. Their gazes locked, neither able to look away until their lips met again and their eyes slipped shut. Charles was the one to pull away the second time whispering a soft, "Goodnight…" as he slipped out of Erik's arms and ran up the steps to his apartment building. "Gute nacht." Erik called, at the door Charles looked back with one of his brilliant smiles before disappearing inside.

He smiled to himself, touching his kiss swollen lips, as he made his way to the apartment. He checked his pockets for his keys before his eyes widened and he realized he left his real clothes at Erik's house. He cursed himself as he grabbed the spare key from the fire extinguisher case beside the door. Unlocking it he stepped inside being as quiet as he could so not to wake Logan.

When the overhead lights flipped on Charles spun around to see his boyfriend standing in the doorway to their bedroom.

"Where the hell have you been Charles?"


	7. Chapter 7

**I've been giving Erik a pretty unfair advantage over Logan for Charles' heart…**

**PLEASE NOTE: Readers this will be my last update for quite a while, I'm going on a trip and I'm not sure if I'll have time to even write. Sorry if this seems a bit rushed I wanted to get this out before I leave tonight. Love you all!**

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><p><strong>Chapter VII: Violent confessions<strong>

Logan frowned and put his phone away, it was the fifth time he'd checked his phone since he sent a second text to Charles roughly twenty minutes ago. Looking up from the phone to the entrance of the bar Logan smiled thinking of the first time he'd seen Charles walk through those doors, it was at this party four years ago. Then he had come because Scott had invited him and he had just moved here so he didn't know anyone at the time but ever since Charles had come to spend Halloween with Logan. Charles _always_ came to the party. Why wasn't he here? Did something happen to him at school? Logan pulled out his phone and checked again.

Nothing.

He looked at the people in their silly costumes talking and laughing with friends and he sighed. He needed and wanted to go home, maybe Charles was there and had just fallen asleep. Another smile formed at the thought of Charles curled up on their bed sound asleep.

Things between them had been a bit tough since that night he had been so rough with him a few weeks ago but Logan had been working hard to make amends. He even went to _an_ anger management class and stopped drinking _as_ much. Charles seemed to have come around again and things were steadily getting better and better.

"Hey! Logan I got someone for you to meet!"

Scott swung his arm around Logan's neck. Clearly he had been drinking a lot more than Logan had. Scott pulled him over to a gorgeous, dark skinned woman with silver colored hair. She was beautiful for sure and dressed in a very sexy cat woman outfit. On the way over to her Logan pulled out his phone to check for something, anything from Charles, but again, nothing. He looked up at the woman and smiled, "Hey."

The conversation was interesting and the woman, Ororo, was captivatingly gorgeous but not his type and he was so glad when her friends showed up and stole her away. By this time Scott had sobered up enough to be left in charge of the bar again so Logan grabbed his jacket and made for the exit. "Logan, where are you going?"

"I'm going to go see if Charles is at home."

"I'm sure he's just stuck at the library or something. Your boyfriend is a nerd after all. He'll show. Stay have a drink with me."

"I'm going home."

With that he left before Scott could get another word in. He needed to see Charles and quiet the worries that were plaguing his mind.

When he got home he looked around, everything was the exact same as when he had left this afternoon including the fact Charles wasn't there. Frowning he went to check if he was in their bedroom, he wasn't. Charles was nowhere to be found. Where would he be? Maybe Scott had been right and he was still at the library, the man did get extremely carried away with his studies.

Logan needed a smoke but instead he sat on the foot of their bed and took off his boots. He'd given up smoking cigars when Charles had moved in with him but the craving for once came back whenever he was stressed and Charles wasn't around to calm his nerves.

Maybe fresh air would help quiet the urges. He got up and walked to the window to open it but when he saw Charles he stopped, leaving it shut. Logan watched his boyfriend stumble down the sidewalk leaning on someone for support. He was clearly drunk and in a strange costume. Where had he been? Had he been at a party and not told him?

Logan felt anger begin to prickle at the back of his mind as he watched the two on the sidewalk. What the hell was it the older guy picked up? Logan narrowed his eyes to get a clearer image. It was a red leaf. He frowned in confusion. What the hell was with the leaf and what was he saying to Charles to make him smile like that?

He felt his heart stop beating when he saw the man kissing Charles. Every muscle in his body tensed as he waited for Charles to pull away and punch the man. He didn't. He kissed back. Logan backed away from the window feeling ill. Red peaked at the edges of his vision but he shook his head trying to keep his temped in check. Charles was drunk, he didn't know better.

Looking out the window he saw the two men separate. _Okay Charles, just walk away,_ He thought as he watched them. He'd be willing to let it go if Charles walked away now then told him what he did. He knew how Charles got when he was drunk so his actions were forgivable… to an extent. For a long time neither of the two down on the sidewalk moved until they kissed again.

Logan tore his gaze from the window and ran his hands through his hair in frustration. Looking for something to focus on to calm the anger that was slowly building he fixed his gaze on a picture of the two of them. It was a picture from their first winter together, Charles had dragged Logan to New York with him to meet his mother, Logan hadn't wanted to go but Charles insisted. If there was one thing Logan couldn't do back then it was say 'no' to Charles and his big, pleading, blue eyes. In the picture Charles was wrapped in his arms, pretending to sleep but his smile was a dead giveaway.

Charles _used to_ smile nonstop.

Logan grabbed the picture and threw it against the wall as hard as he could. The frame left a dent in the wall where it hit and the glass shattered on the floor but Logan didn't care, he was trying to calm himself down so that when Charles got up to the apartment he wouldn't go off on him like he did about the card…

Was Charles out with that man, the one that gave him the card? Logan looked back out the window but the man was walking away and Charles was nowhere to be found, probably heading up right now. If Charles was cheating on him with that man…

The door opened and he walked out of their bedroom, leaning on the doorframe as he watched Charles sneak in. Seeing how hard Charles was trying to sneak around fed the fire that he was trying his hardest to control. Flipping on the overhead lights he watched Charles jump and turn to stare at him with wide eyes.

"Where the hell have you been Charles?" The question came out colder than he had meant it to. Closing his eyes he collected himself then looked back at Charles. "And what are you wearing?" That was a bit better but still sounded somewhat harsh. He hated how Charles was looking at him; it was as if he was still scared of him.

"I-I…" Charles bit his lip, clearly having trouble coming up with an answer. Was he actually going to _lie_ to him? Charles had never lied to him before and when he did it was only about small things that he ended up telling the truth about any way. This was not going to be something small. "I was at a Halloween party. I went as a lab rat, see?" The smile he had as he spun around to show Logan his full costume was clearly forced.

"Why didn't you tell me about it Charles?"

"I-I thought I'd have time to go to both this one and the bar's. My friends didn't let me leave though."

"I texted you. You didn't answer."

"I didn't get them."

He'd be checking that later but sadly he wouldn't be able to tell if Charles really didn't get them or if he deleted them.

"How'd you get home?"

"I walked; the party wasn't far from here."

"Anything else you want to tell me?"

Charles smiled faintly, his eyes soft as he walked over to where Logan stood and wrapped his arms around his neck. "I'm so sorry I didn't tell you where I was." The instant Logan felt those soft lips pressed to his something inside him snapped and he shoved the younger man away from him.

Charles stumbled back but managed to get his footing before he fell. He looked up at Logan in confusion laced fear as Logan became angry. "Logan?" Charles took a few more steps back to put a safe distance between them. "Who was it that walked you home Charles?" Charles felt his blood run cold as his eyes widened. Logan had seen him with Erik. "Oh God… Logan I-"

"Are you cheating on me Charles?"

"No! Of course not we just-"

Logan would forever regret the moment he raised his hand to Charles but the look on the younger man's face and the lie he was probably about to tell made Logan's blood boil and his vision to fade to red. He closed the distance between them and grabbed Charles who was staring up at him with wide fear filled eyes. The impact of his fist was heavy, fueled by rage and done with all his strength.

The noise Charles made when Logan's steel fist collided with his cheek was somewhere between a yelp and whimper. He had never hit Charles before but as soon as he did the flood gates opened and he punched him once more in the face then in the stomach, forcing all of the air out of his lungs.

"Logan…" he whimpered after he managed to recover slightly. He tried to sink to his knees so he could fully catch his breath but Logan kept him on his feet.

"Charles you're _mine._ Do you _understand_ me?"

"All we did was-was kiss an-and Logan I'm really drunk… you know how I-"

Logan shook him violently, "do you _understand_ me Charles?"

"Yes!"

"Good, now let's wash that stranger off of you." Logan hissed as he dragged Charles to the bathroom.

Charles was trying his hardest not to cry by his nose was becoming runny and tears clouded his vision. What had he been thinking? He should have known something like this was going to happen, he shouldn't have kissed Erik and he shouldn't have gone to that party but as he was very nearly dragged to the bathroom he couldn't help but think that Erik would never treat him this way.

Erik was kind but he didn't know about Logan. If he had known Charles was taken then he would have never invited him to the party or at least not have kissed him. Why hadn't he just told Erik he was taken? If he had he wouldn't be being forced to look at himself in the large mirror or have Logan forcing his mouth open.

A bar of soap was shoved into his mouth as he was forced open. Charles gagged at the bitter taste of the bar. "I will not have you kissing me with lips that he's touched." The bar was shoved so far in his mouth that Charles began to really gag but Logan held it there regardless. Charles closed his eyes tight, tears escaping, and started to struggle as he began to choke, nails digging and clawing at Logan's arms. He needed air and Logan was denying him that by keeping the soap in place.

"Charles if you ever do something like that again the consequences will be worse than you can imagine." Logan snarled as he pulled the soap out and shoved Charles away from him, he didn't give any specifics with what he'd do to Charles because imagination alone would install the fear better than any threat he could think of would.

Charles lost his footing when Logan shove him and he hit his head on the rim of the toilet and lay sprawled out, unmoving, on the bathroom floor.

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><p>The first thing he felt when he woke up, before he even opened his eyes, was the painful throb of a headache screaming at him. For the longest time he couldn't open his eyes or move much because of the pain. When he finally managed to open his eyes he saw he was in his room, the blinds were all closed to keep the sun out, which he was more thankful for than he could ever say.<p>

His mouth was dry and everything tasted sickeningly bitter but he couldn't focus on that. Not with this headache stabbing through his brain. He couldn't think about anything or keep his eyes open for too long. It just hurt too much and when he tried to roll over nausea and the feeling of the need to vomit hit him in waves.

The door opened, even the quiet squeak of the hinges seemed to scream louder than any voice, and Logan quietly stepped in. Charles quickly pretended to be asleep, but it was harder than normal, he wanted to curl up and whimper at the pain. Logan sat on the edge of the bed and stroked his dark hair. It was then Charles realized he wasn't in his lab rat costume but in his most comfortable pair of pj's, the ones Logan _hated_ because they covered him completely and Charles loved because the material was so soft.

He opened his eyes just enough to see his boyfriend's face. Logan's expression had done a 360 as to what it had been before. Instead of angry he looked sadly calm as he brushed Charles' hair back. When they made eye contact Logan smiled sadly and leaned down to kiss the dark bruise on Charles' temple. Charles felt his throat constrict and tears start to form at the sweet gesture. This was the Logan he'd fallen for, the sweet, caring one, not the violent man from before that he was terrified of.

"I'm sorry baby…" The words came out of his mouth before he even thought to say them. Even the sound of his own voice caused his head to throb painfully.

"No Charles…" Logan whispered against his temple, "I'm sorry, I should have never- I know how you get when you've been drinking… I shouldn't have reacted that way." Charles smiled faintly and closed his eyes as he listened to the soothing sound of Logan's voice. "I just love you Charles and the thought of losing you-" Charles cut him off with a soft kiss.

"I love you. I'm not leaving you."


	8. Chapter 8

**I'm back and got over writer's block!  
>I wanted to give a shout out t<strong>_**o **__**TIzumi **_**on YT/DA, it was her birthday the other day and she told me the coolest thing: **For writing, just find the point between motivation and creativity.

**Funny fact: **While visiting my older sister she said that me with the wonderful reviews I get is like watching a crack addict with their fix… Yeah.

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><p><strong>Chapter VIII: Closing time<strong>

Erik smiled as he watched Charles run up the steps to his apartment building. The young man was truly adorable in that costume. He was about to turn to leave when Charles stopped at the door and looked back at him with a smile. It was the most amazing smile he had ever seen and in the blink of an eye was gone as the owner slipped through the door. He tearing his eyes from the door he looked at the red leaf he still had a hold of before he placed it in his pocket then looked back at the door.

When he was sure Charles wasn't coming back Erik pulled himself away and began the long walk home, the whole time unable to wipe the grin off his face. He couldn't remember the last time that he smiled this much. He even kicked up the fallen leaves as he made his way down the sidewalk.

His smile faded as his mind slowly drifted the fact he was heading back to an empty house full of painful memories and a stack of papers that needed to be graded. Closing his eyes he rubbed his temples and headed to the nearest bar. A couple more drinks wouldn't kill him.

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><p>Scott sighed heavily as he finished drying off another glass. He should, by all rights, be at home and in bed by now but since it was Halloween he let last call run a lot longer than normal. Most of the people from the party had gone home by now and the ones that were left were trying to sober up enough to remember the way home.<p>

He was putting the glass away when the door opened and the tiny bell attached to it rang a couple times. "It's last call. We're closing up." He said without looking up from his task.

"As long as you have time to pour one beer I'm fine with that."

Scott frowned and furrowed his brow; he knew that voice, the accent was a dead giveaway. He turned and saw none other than one of his professors from before he dropped out heading over to take a seat at the bar. "Holy shit. Professor Lehnsherr?"

The man narrowed his gaze as if trying to remember the other's name as he sat down and looked up at Scott. "Scott Summers."

"The one and only."

"So this is where you vanished off to?"

"Yeah, it was a better offer than failing out." Scott muttered as he grabbed a tall glass and filled it with beer from the tap before setting it in front of the professor. Erik cracked a smile.

"So what brings you to this part of town Professor?"

"Please, call me Erik. I'm not your professor anymore." He said before taking a long swig of his beer then with a sigh of satiation answered Scott. "I was just dropping someone off at home after a party."

"Well if you don't mind me saying if you dropped them off at home shouldn't you be there with them?" Scott laughed as he arched a suggestive eyebrow much like Raven had earlier that night.

"His home. Not mine." Erik corrected.

Scott nodded and turned to get another glass so he could pour himself a drink. That was when he spotted the small picture on the wall of Logan, Charles and him in front of the bar and his grin slowly faded as his mind slowly pulled pieces together. It may be complete coincidence but Charles did live close by and not to mention he went to a party with some professor tonight, maybe… "Say, what's the guy's name?"

"Why?"

"A close friend of mine told me he was going to a party with a handsome professor tonight so I'm curious to know if you mean Charles."

"Charles Xavier?"

"Yeah, that's him." Scott grabbed the photo and handed it to Erik. "Him, right?" He asked tapping the glass over a grinning Charles standing between the bar owners.

"Yeah." Erik smiled staring down at the photo.

Scott stared at the man before going back to getting himself a drink. He was going to need it. Erik clearly already had a thing for Charles, no one could blame him for that, Charles was something amazing but he needed to know about Logan. Scott sighed and downed most of his drink in the first swig. "So you just dropped him off right? Nothing… special happen?"

Erik looked up from the picture, brows knit together in confusion. "Yeah, I just made sure he got home safe."

Scott sighed in relief, if that was all it was there was nothing to really worry about, especially if Logan saw. It wasn't anything that Charles couldn't easily explain away without having to lie. Charles was a terrible liar.

"Well there was a good night kiss." Erik added and Scott froze, every muscle going tense as his hand shot to his phone in his pocket, intent on calling Charles and making sure he was okay. If Logan saw Charles willingly kissing another man, which he was sure Charles did with Erik going off how he talked about him, there would be hell to pay. Scott pulled out his phone and flipped open the screen to dial but it showed the 'goodbye' screen like it did when it was out of battery and shut off.

"Something the matter?"

"This is going to suck…" Scott muttered as he put his phone away. Charles and Logan where probably asleep by now anyway and Logan might have been asleep long before Charles got dropped off. With that in mind he decided to call first thing in the morning instead. What mattered right now was breaking it to Erik that he needed to back off before he got Charles hurt.

"Hm?"

Scott tapped the photo again, this time over Logan. "See this guy? That's Charles' boyfriend."

Erik's attention shot from the photo to Scott who just nodded. "Yeah, he's been in a relationship for about four years now." Erik didn't say anything for a long time just looked down at the picture before setting it on the bar. "Then why would he kiss back and twice at that? "

Scott arched an eyebrow. "You two kissed twice?"

Erik glanced up at Scott without giving any form of answer to Scott's question. He didn't see a point when his own question had previously confirmed it.

"Charles has a serious thing for you and that's causing relationship issues between the two. Logan boarders on getting violent with Charles enough already. I hope you don't mind me saying but I suggest you back off."

* * *

><p>"What?"<p>

"Yeah."

"Well what are you going to do about it?"

"Nothing?"

"Unacceptable! Erik, last night was the first time since that bitch Magda that I saw you actually having a good time."

"Raven have you forgotten what 'taken' means?"

"Ugh, hold up I'll be there in two minutes." With that she hung up.

Erik looked down at his phone, checking that she really hung up on him before closing it and setting it down on the table. They were meeting for lunch, well more like Raven was crashing his lunch after he told her that Charles happened to actually be off-limits. She clearly had some kind of issue with that, more so than he did.

He watched out the window as Raven pull up in her navy blue Chevy impala and hop out. He was not going to look forward to this. Raven was always the 'be who you're meant to be' type and now she was apparently the 'crash a relationship if it'll make you happy' type. He could hardly deal with her before, now it was going to be worse.

She entered the restaurant and sat down in front of him. He just looked at her over his menu while she stared at him expectantly. "_Well_?"

"Well what?"

"Well what are you going to do about getting Charles?"

"Nothing, like I said. He's in a relationship. I, unlike some, try to respect that."

"That's bullshit Erik. You said yourself he kissed back and you kissed twice! Someone in a happy relationship that should be respected wouldn't do that."

He hated that she had a point. If Charles was in a relationship that he liked then why would he be so willing to ditch his boyfriend and spend Halloween with Erik?

He thought back to last night at the bar and was Scott had said about Logan being close to violent with Charles. How could anyone even think of harming Charles? Maybe Raven was right about him needing to do something but as noble as his intentions sounded in his head it would truly be driven by his own selfish desires to be with Charles.

Raven was grinning triumphantly; she knew she'd gotten him thinking about taking Charles. With that little victory she called a waitress over so that they could order and then continue the conversation.

* * *

><p>"Scott?"<p>

"Yeah Charles?"

"I'm leaving Logan."

Scott choked on his coffee for a few moments before staring wide eyed at the man sitting across from him. Charles was absently gazing out the window the two sat beside, sipping at his tea like he hadn't just decided to end a four year long relationship.

"Charles?"

The younger man blew into his tea watching the steam get pushed out of the way and the light brown liquid ripple in the teacup. He was thinking of what he had just heard himself say. He was planning on leaving Logan when just last night he told him he wasn't going anywhere. But what was to be expected? He wasn't some weak person that could be pushed around and take it without a word.

He could take Logan getting violent toward others when they stepped over the line with him. He could handle getting pulled around and shoved into walls. He would happily deal with the rough sex. He would not allow himself to be abused like he was last night.

He knew he hadn't been the best boyfriend the last few weeks but that was no excuse for Logan to react the way he did. Yes, he had skipped the bar's Halloween party, yes he had ignored Logan for Erik and last night when Erik had kissed him he did kiss back but still...

"_Charles_."

His head throbbed painfully when Scott called his name a little too loudly. It was afternoon and he still had a splitting headache from last night when he smashed his head on the rim of the toilet bowl. He looked up at Scott as he set his tea down. "What?"

"What do you mean what? You just said you were leaving your boyfriend of four years, I think that merits some type of explanation." Scott could see the bruise on Charles' temple even with the cover up on and he was pretty sure those shades weren't to shield his eyes because he had a 'horrible hangover' but he still wanted to know why Charles was just now deciding to leave the bastard, not that he wasn't happy about it.

"I…" Charles trailed off as he searched for the right words to use, none came. "I don't think I love him any more… He's not the man I fell in love with." The Logan Charles had first met was romantic, well as romantic as a man like Logan can be, funny and caring. Charles had always felt safe around him now he didn't want to be in the same room alone with him for fear he might snap.

"You two share an apartment."

"I know." Charles' gaze drifted back to the window. All the beautiful golden leafs had somehow all turned brown overnight, leaving the world a little less beautiful.

"Where are you going to stay?"

"I was thinking about staying at my family's place outside the city."

"But Charles…"

"I know." Charles had tried his hardest to not have to use his family's support; he wasn't going to be like his stepbrother who always had to rely on their parent's, no, Charles' real father's money to help him. Being as gifted as he was in the academic field Charles had earned scholarships to help him pay for college so he didn't have to go to Sharon and admit defeat. Now he had to, he couldn't stay with Logan once he broke up with him and Scott's place, well, he could crash at but he didn't want to go back after what had happened the night of the card incident.

"Maybe check around campus for ads for anyone needing a roommate before you break up with him."

Charles gave his friend a distressed look, which was mostly hidden by his shades. "If I don't break up with him tonight you know I'm going to end up not doing it…" For being as smart as he was Charles was not very good at emotional stuff. When he was little he had always had trouble letting things go like toys or anything that made him happy because that was all he really had. He wasn't allowed out so he didn't really have friends; his mother was a socialite so she never had time for him and when Kurt and his son Cain moved in one day things just got worse.

Now as an adult Charles still clung to the things that made him even the slightest bit happy, which Logan did.

He felt tears burn as the edge of his vision from just the thought of leaving even after all that had happened last night. Closing his eyes he tiled his head back a bit and let out a calming sigh before returning to his tea. He took a sip and frown, it wasn't sweet enough. Grabbing a sugar packet he shook it and ripped it open.

"Charles?"

"Yeah?"

"It's a good thing you're going to do this."

He wanted to yell at Scott for that comment. Scott had never liked Logan so it wasn't fair for him to say if it was honestly a good thing or a bad thing. Sure Logan wasn't always the best person to be around but he wasn't so horrible that breaking up was a good thing. Instead he cracked a smile and poured the sugar into his tea.

"I know."


	9. Chapter 9

**Competition time... Sorta  
>I promise I won't make you all wait as long as I did last time from now on. Special circumstances. :3<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 9: Forgiveness<strong>

Everything he needed to do today weighed heavily on his mind and heart and as he made his way down the street toward his apartment building tears slipped free. He kept telling himself that it was truly better that he was doing this, that he wasn't going to be some weak fool and back out now. But even that reassurance didn't stop the tears that ran freely down his cheeks.

Why was he crying? He'd made this plan this morning when he woke up, after he had overcome the nausea from his head wound that had caused him to retch everything he had eaten the night before. He knew he needed to do this for himself and for Logan.

Yes this was for both of them. It was so Charles would be out of a spiraling toward abusive relationship and so that Logan could find someone else. Charles loved the man but clearly not as much as he had thought he did. If he got a crush on someone else while he was with Logan it was a clear sign he didn't love Logan with _all_ his heart.

Charles discretely wiped his eyes and under his nose, sniffling quietly as he walked up the steps of his apartment building.

"Charles?"

The young man stopped at the door as his heart began to hammer in his chest, pumping blood so quickly it made his head throb painfully. That voice was Erik's; he knew it was him, that gorgeous accent gave him away instantly. Why was he here? What if Logan comes home and sees him?

Half turning Charles looked down at the man standing at the foot of the stairs through his shades. "Erik?" Now was not a good time for Erik to see him, not like this with his bruises being so dark that he hadn't been able to cover them up very well and not before he ended it with Logan. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you, of course."

"Now's not a good time." Charles turned back to the large door intent on walking away from Erik.

"Is your boyfriend home and that's why it's not a good time?"

Charles paused with his hand on the doorknob. He didn't turn back to face Erik, just stood there, his mind racing almost as fast as his heart. How did Erik find out about Logan? He knew he would probably find out eventually if he stayed with Logan but why did he have to find out right before he was about to leave him?

He heard footsteps behind him as Erik slowly ascended the stairs to stand behind him. "Erik last night was a mistake. I shouldn't have kissed you. I get… flirty when drunk, I'd never cheat on Logan sober..." He was lying, if Erik was to turn him around and kiss him right at that moment he'd kiss back without a moment's hesitation. The way he felt with Erik's lips against his was nothing short of amazing.

"It wasn't a mistake and you were pretty close to sober by the time we got here Charles. Not to mention you never bothered to tell me about him, there's something very wrong about that." Erik leaned closer, practically whispering the words into his ear. Charles felt himself go a little weak in the knees at their close proximity and the feeling of Erik's breath warm against his ear and cheek.

"Charles?"

Every hair on his body stood on end as he turned, discreetly shoving Erik a little ways away from him, so that he saw the man standing at the base of the stairs. "B-Bab-Logan!"

"Is this guy bothering you?"

"I-I…"

"No, no not at all Charles and I were just finishing up a conversation." Erik put on a smile, instantly recognizing the man as the one from Scott's photo, Charles' bordering on violent boyfriend. He looked from the man walking up the steps to Charles who was shaking like a leaf. That was when he spotted a side view of Charles' face, seeing behind the shades to the dark bruise and slightly swollen eye.

His already forced smile faded slightly as he looked from Charles' eye to Logan's knuckles which were also slightly bruised. It seemed like Scott's 'borders on' was now 'does' get violent with Charles. Did Charles get hurt because of last night? Had Logan seen them? If so then why wasn't he behaving negatively or aggressively toward Erik?

Erik thought last night's scene over in his head and realized if Logan had seen them then he probably only would have seen Erik's back because he was facing away from the building.

Logan shot a glare at Erik and Erik narrowed his gaze. They were about the same height, Erik was a little taller, probably not too far apart in age, Logan's muscular build was bigger but Erik was more than sure he could easily take the man out if he needed to. "Alright, Well when you finish your conversation come up Charles. I have something for you."

Charles smiled at his boyfriend, happy he had on shades because it was a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "I will." Logan suddenly pulled him close and claimed his lips.

Erik looked away at first, feeling pin pricks of jealousy and anger in his chest but his gaze shifted back to the couple when Charles made a noise that almost sounded distressed. He watched how Charles hardly responded to the kiss, he didn't move his lips or melt into the Logan's arms like he had with Erik, in fact he looked like he wanted it to stop with the way his brow was furrowed and his hands clenched into fists.

Erik wanted to grab Logan by the back of his collar and shove him down the stone stairs. That would teach him not to touch Charles in any way, negative or positive. Erik just barely managed to keep his thoughts from becoming action as he pulled his gaze away from the two again.

Logan drew back from the kiss and lightly pat Charles' cheek before heading inside. "I'll see you inside."

Charles nodded and watched him go inside before looking up at Erik then lowering his head and turning to the door to go in. Just then Erik grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back close. The kiss was short lived but Charles had responded instantly to it and just as eagerly as he had the night before.

"What the hell are you doing?" He whispered harshly looking at the door, making sure Logan didn't see them again.

"Charles leave him."

"Erik, I…" He pulled him into another kiss and Charles had to force himself to push Erik away before he melted into it completely. "Erik..."

Erik took Charles' shades off and tilted his chin up so he could better see the bruises that Charles attempted to hide. He tried to turn away so Erik couldn't see but he held him there staring him dead in the eye. "You deserve someone who won't do this to you."

Charles stared back into the steel green pools as he felt himself leaning into Erik more for support as his body started to go weak. It wasn't until Charles heard something that sounded like a window opening did he find the strength to pulled away from Erik and go inside

Charles ran up the steps to his apartment and stopped at the door just as he was about to turn the door knob. This was going to be the last time he entered through here. Yes, he was still breaking up with Logan, not because he wanted to be with Erik… Well mostly not for that reason. Taking a deep breath he turned the knob and entered.

Logan was sitting on the couch a bottle of wine and two wine glasses resting on the coffee table in front of him. Charles closed the door behind but didn't move any farther into the apartment.

"Dinner is already in the-Where are your shades?"

He'd left them with Erik. "I took them off." He didn't meet Logan's heavy gaze, just stared at the corner of the coffee table.

"Charles?" Logan stood up slowly, as if not to make any sudden movements and scare Charles. This was probably smart since Charles felt like he was mere seconds from turning and running out that door as fast as he could instead of facing this.

"Logan…" He cleared his throat and looked around the apartment, looked anywhere but at Logan.

"What is it Charles?" Logan took a few steps forward but stopped when he saw Charles take half a step back. "Charles?"

"I want to… I think it's best we… I think we should break up. I'll move out since this was originally you place." He had trouble starting it but once he got part of it out the rest came flowing out before he had time to think anything he was saying over. "It's better that we end it now, for both of us, I mean if I can do something like last night then that clearly means I'm not-"

"_What_?" Logan marched up to Charles even as the younger man pressed himself back against the door to keep a little distance. "Charles you said last night that-"

"I know what I said. I've thought it through, this is the better choice." His voice cracked and his chin started to tremble so he quickly moved away from Logan. The longer he stayed the more at risk he was of going back on his plan. Since he was going to his family's second home he'd have clothes there so he just had to get his school supplies, he could come back with Scott for the rest.

Logan followed him, watching in shock as Charles actually began to pack his textbooks and notebooks. He walked up behind Charles putting his hands on the younger man's shoulders, not missing how he flinched slightly. "Charles. Look at me."

Charles ignored him and continued gathering his things.

"_Charles_"

Logan's grip on his shoulders tightened and he turned him around to claim his lips in a hurried, almost desperate kiss. Charles whimpered and tried to push Logan off of him but Logan now held the sides of his head, not allowing him to pull back from the kiss until ever so slowly he relaxed into it.

"Charles, stop this." Logan commanded softly as he gently took a hold of Charles' chin. The younger man averted his eyes as he was forced to face his boyfriend. He couldn't look at Logan; his resolve would crumble completely if he did.

"Charles do you love me?"

The only response he got was a hitch in Charles' heavy breathing.

"Do you love me even a little?"

Charles' gaze slowly shifted until he was staring helplessly up at Logan. Yes he loved him, that was a silly question, but Charles had to leave him, needed to for his own good. If he said no Logan would surely let him leave in peace. Charles thought it over in his head before finally answering with "Yes" instead.

"Then forgive me and stay."


	10. Chapter 10

You know I was thinking if Erik hadn't come along Charles and Logan would have a pretty good relationship. Yeah Logan would be a bit crazy with the possessiveness anyway but he'd never have hurt Charles… I actually feel bad for him and for Charles because it wasn't a bad relationship until recently.

Didn't edit this too thoroughly so if there is grammar/spelling issues sorry. /half asleep

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 10: Memories<strong>

_He looked at his hand and sighed, the address was smudged, just his luck. Staring down the empty sidewalk he took a seat on the curb. Why was he going to a bar anyway? Sure the drinking age was eighteen here and he was allowed to drink but that didn't mean he should. Maybe, if anything, he should get drunk in his dorm to see how he reacts before he does it at some Halloween party._

_That would probably be something smart to do. Getting up he walked a little farther down the sidewalk until he heard loud music playing from across the street. He smiled to himself a little because he'd just found what he'd been looking for._

_Once he entered the bar most people's attention turned to him, just like in the movies or fairy tales, like Cinderella at the ball, but a lot less breath-taking. He smiled a little more and began to look around for Scott. _

"_Hey Charles!" He looked up and saw Scott waving to him from behind the bar. Quickly he made his way through the crowd and over to his friend._

"_Scott, you actually work here?"_

"_Yeah, I'm one of the owners. I didn't tell you that?"_

_Charles shook his head and looked around, he still held a few girls' attention but most of the people that had stared at him when he came in had gone back to their own business. "Can I get you anything?"_

_Charles looked back at Scott before he shrugged, "I really don't know. What's good?" He remembered his mother, no, Sharon, she stopped being his mother a long time ago, used to get drunk on wine and scotch every chance she could. He shuddered from the memory and closed his eyes. "You okay?" He just nodded._

_When he opened his eyes he saw someone else slip behind the bar. "Scott, who's he?" _

_The other looked at the man and frown slightly. "That's the other owner, hang on, I'll introduce you."_

_Charles nodded and watched Scott walk over to the man. He was tall with broad shoulders and muscles, almost shoulder length dark hair and tan skin. Charles bit his lip and looked down at the beer Scott had set in front of him without him noticing. He picked it up and looked back at Scott and the man only to see the man was staring at him was gorgeous hazel eyes. Charles felt his cheeks set on fire and he was sure he was blushing bright red._

"_Are you sure you're old enough to be drinking that?" The man asked as he made his way over to Charles who just stared, blushing and biting his lip._

"_He's eighteen, Logan. Charles this is Logan, the other owner. Asshole this is Charles." Scott introduced with a smile._

_Logan shot a glare at Scott for the 'asshole' comment but then turned his gaze to Charles again. "You just don't look any older than sixteen."_

_Instead of commenting Charles down some of his beer then scrunched up his face like a child might when they don't like something._

"_Don't like it?"_

"_Not really used to it." He confessed. _

"_First time drinking?"_

"_Not really. I have before, but only a little wine. I've never been drunk before." He shrugged. "I don't know how I react to alcohol. Heh…"_

_Logan smiled at him. He was certainly a cute one. "Don't worry I'll keep an eye on you."_

"_Thanks." Charles smiled brilliantly in return._

* * *

><p>Charles' eyes fluttered open. He hadn't meant to really fall asleep; he had just wanted to lie with Logan until he fell asleep. He looked up at the sleeping man whose arms he was wrapped in and smiled softly. He'd dreamt of the first time they met which made his heart sink knowing what he was actually going to do tonight.<p>

Charles was a saint when it came to forgiveness so of course he had forgiven Logan but that didn't mean he was going to stay. Slowly he removed himself from Logan's arms so not to wake him. Moving to the edge of the bed he looked at his half packed school bag then back to Logan.

He scooted back closer and leaned down letting his eyes slip shut as he gently pressed his lips to Logan's and thought back to their first kiss.

* * *

><p><em>Charles laughed a little too loudly around Logan, smiled nonstop and felt completely free to be himself. They'd known each other for about a week but every day they'd hang out before Logan had to work or in between Charles' classes.<em>

_One night Charles asked Logan if he would take off early and walk him to his dorm to make sure he got there safely. More than a couple people had tried to make a pass at him that night and he was feeling uncomfortable with the idea of walking back alone in the dark especially after he had had a few drinks._

_Logan was more than understanding and ditched Scott at the bar so he could take Charles to his dorm. He had hated having to just stand behind the bar while girls and even some guys flirted with Charles. He'd nearly lost it when one guy grabbed Charles' ass that night._

_They were walking down the street in comfortable silence when Charles took a deep breath and took a hold of Logan's arm and rested his head on his shoulder. Logan stopped walking and Charles looked up at him before letting go. "I…"_

_Someone came out of the alley behind them. "Give me your money." The mugger was about the same size as Logan but had a knife, giving him an advantage. _

"_Okay, just put the knife away." Charles said as he slowly reached for his wallet. He had a bit of money he could spare, the man looked homeless he was probably just desperate._

"_Now!" He thrust the knife at them as if to warn them he really would hurt them._

_Charles cringed but Logan stepped in front of him in a protective manner. "I suggest you put the knife away and leave." _

_The man glared and scoffed. "Give me your money or I'll start with him." He said pointing the knife at Charles. He shouldn't have done that because the second he did Logan lounged at him, grabbing the wrist that controlled the knife._

"_Logan!" Charles shrieked covering his mouth. He closed his eyes when the first punch landed and didn't open them under he heard hurried footsteps and felt Logan's hands on his shoulders. He stared up at Logan's soft hazel eyes and lowered his hands from him mouth. "You're shaking. Charles, are you okay?"_

_Charles stared at him a moment longer, his heart hammering in his chest, before he reach up and pulling Logan into a kiss. It was soft and sweet at first but quickly turned into one of rough passion only ending when Charles' back was pressed to the side of a building._

* * *

><p>Charles drew back from the gentle kiss then slipped silently off the edge of the bed. He began packing the rest of his school things as quietly and as quickly as he could, pausing every time Logan made a noise or shifted on the bed.<p>

When he'd finished getting his papers from the bedroom he made his way to the living room. The floor squeaked beneath him just as he was leaving the bedroom and he cursed silently, looking over his shoulder to make sure Logan was still asleep. Thankfully he was.

The desperate look on Logan's face when he asked if Charles loved him was burned into Charles' memory and caused his heart to throb painfully as he looked upon his sleeping boyfriend.

Tearing his gaze away he looked around the living room before setting his bag down on the couch. Moving to the bookshelves he grabbed his text books and science journals. He set them down next to his bag before taking a seat by the pile and pulling out his phone.

* * *

><p><em>They had been together for two years and Charles was spending more nights at Logan's than in his dorm room. He was even helping Logan pick out furniture for the place; all he really had was a bed and a desk chair.<em>

_A few days after they had picked things out from the store workmen arrived and took the couch, chairs and table up to Logan's place. Charles had been there to help tell them where things should go in the room while Logan stood back and laughed at how OCD Charles was being with the angles and positions._

_Once everything was set up and the workmen were paid and had left Charles flopped down on the couch and curled up as if to take a nap. Logan smiled and walked over to him. "I like this couch." He muttered into the fabric of the seat._

"_Charles." Logan whispered softly as he knelt beside the couch, leaning over Charles who turned slightly to look up at him. "How would you like to move in?"_

_Charles' baby blues widened and he quickly sat up. "Are you serious?" He asked as he grinned ear to ear._

_Logan couldn't help but smile back. "Of course I am. You practically live here already."_

_Charles suddenly kissed him, wrapping his arms around his neck and practically tackling him to the floor as he did so. Logan wrapped his arms around him as they both landing softly on the new rug. "I love you." Charles smiled, that had been the first time he'd been the one to say it first, normally he just waited until Logan said it then he'd say 'I love you too.'_

_Logan smiled up at him and pulled him into another kiss._

* * *

><p>"<em>Hello? May I help you<em>?"

"Hello… Yes, excuse me I need a taxi." He whispered into the phone, watching the bedroom doorway to make sure Logan didn't get up. He hesitated for a moment before giving the woman on the other end his name and the address of his apartment building and telling her he'll wait on the steps. She told him the taxi should arrive in roughly fifteen minutes.

After thanking her he hung up and slipped his phone in his pocket. He stood and looked around the apartment one last time. He was throwing a four year relationship that had been close to perfect for the longest time out the window. Closing his eyes he picked up his bag and his books and walked out the door.

He looked back inside and watched as the apartment and all the memories tied to everything inside disappeared behind the closing door.

By the time he sat down on the steps outside tears were streaming down his cheeks. Part of him was hoping and praying that Logan would notice he was gone and come running out that door after him to stop him from going. The other part was worried the taxi wouldn't get here fast enough and he'd give in to the urge to run back inside.

A few minutes later the taxi rolled up and the driver leaned out the window. "Are you Charles Xavier?"

Charles nodded and wiped away his tears before he stood, carrying all his books and his bag with him. He piled into the taxi and closed the door. Taking in a deep breath he tried to calm himself before giving the man behind the wheel directions to his family's second home.


	11. Chapter 11

It's 4 am… I shouldn't be writing. Oh well. Anyway um… I thought I should let you all know that this isn't close to being over (x.x) and that's not the last we've seen of Logan even though it kinda seems like that in this chapter. Yeah… I'm going to bed now.

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><p><strong>Chapter 11: Fires and butterflies<strong>

Charles opened the door of the taxi and scooted to the edge of the seat with his belongings before paying the man. He quietly got out and shut the car door behind him. Staring up at the Xavier's second estate he was reminded of all the times Sharon would throw a dinner party that he had to attend when he was younger. He just saw them as what they had been now that he was older, an excuse for her to get drunk. Feeling considerably number than he had during the cab ride he started walking toward the double doors.

Thankfully Sharon hadn't come back since it was rebuilt after the fire back when he was still in high school. It had destroyed the house and cost Kurt Marko, Charles' stepfather, his life. As much as Charles had hated the man he owed him his own life. Sharon had used Kurt's death as another excuse to drink herself to an early death, even though she never really loved the man in the first place, and Cain still hadn't forgiven Charles for being the death of his father.

He closed his eyes and hoped to God or whoever might be listening in on his thoughts that Cain wasn't staying here because his gambling problem left him in so much debt he got kicked out of his place, again.

"Hang on. You paid me double." The taxi driver called out to him pulling him from his thoughts.

Charles just glanced back at the man from over his shoulder. He had ended up crying again in the taxi which he assumed would have been every uncomfortable for the driver. "Keep it." He said with a small, forced smile.

The man grinned and nodded. "Thank you and have a nice night."

Charles waved slightly and watched the man go before turning back to the house. It wasn't anything special, just a slightly larger than normal house, unlike the estate in New York which was huge beyond compare and which he had vowed never to visit again, not since the last time when he had taken Logan to meet Sharon.

When he entered the house he could still smell the smoke from that night and instead of alarming it was somehow comforting. Making his way through the house the layout slowly started to come back to him and he headed toward the back of the house. The large cherry wood door stood dark against the off-white walls and he smiled faintly before entering.

Charles set his things down on the great cherry wood desk in what once was his real father's study. Yes, the house had been burned down but Sharon had it rebuild and decorated exactly how it had been before. Anything that had survived the fire had been fixed up and placed back in its original place in the house. His father's desk was one of the few things that survived.

Sitting down in the plush chair Charles ran his fingers along one of the burn marks. Everything suddenly began feeling heavy; he had cried enough tonight and it had left him drowsy. Sleep was calling to him, pulling him in with the faint smell of smoke to remind him of a warm fire place and make him feel safe enough to give in. His fingers continued to slide over the intricate wooden designs even as his eyes slowly slipped shut.

* * *

><p>He had been staying at his family's place for a week and Logan hadn't shown up or called or anything at all really. Part of him was heartbroken that Logan seemed to not care at all that he had left but the other part of him was beyond glad because he didn't trust himself not to run back to him if he had tried to get him back.<p>

Getting to and from the university was harder without Logan and his car but Charles decided he'd just have to deal with it for the rest of this semester and he would sign up for a dorm for the spring semester.

At the moment he was sitting in the courtyard staring at one of the old buildings that was part of the university. He had been sitting there for close to half an hour just staring at that same spot, in the middle of a mental war with himself on all the issues he was deeply divided on.

"Charles?"

He blinked, his eyes stung when he did and began to water making him wonder when the last time he blinked had been. He looked around until he saw who had called him. The blonde woman from the Halloween party was walking toward him and he quickly tried to remember her name; it had been some type of bird name hadn't it?

"I'm sorry it's, um, Robin, right?"

She smiled and shook her head. "Raven," She happily corrected.

"Sorry. I recognized you but I couldn't think of your name… Sorry."

"You apologize too much."

"You're not the first person to say that."

She laughed quietly and sat down next to him on the grass. Silence fell between them until both of them looked at each other and then both tried to speak at the same time which ended up sounding like a garble of words. "You go first," Raven offered after they had both stopped in the middle of their questions.

"What are you doing here? Are you a student or professor or…?"

"I teach acting in the Drama school here."

"Ah." He nodded, his gaze slowly shifting back to the building.

"And I was asking you why don't you just go in?"

He furrowed his brow and looked over at her again, head cocked slightly to the side. "What do you mean?"

"You keep staring at the foreign language building. Why don't you just go in?"

"Why would I-"

"Because you know Erik works in there." She smiled. "He'd be happy to see you."

Charles frowned. He had been trying to ignore the fact that whenever he wasn't at war with himself over Logan or studying that he was thinking about the Professor. He was trying to ignore it because he knew he liked the man a lot but he'd just gotten out of a long relationship with someone and he was still trying to convince himself he broke up with Logan because it was the best thing for him and not because he had a thing for Erik.

But that didn't stop him from each day he had classes this week hoping he'd run into the professor so he wouldn't be directly seeking him out. He stayed a little later at the library working each day for the same reason, in fact he spent more time looking around to see if Erik had come in than he did on his thesis.

"Come on. I was heading over to meet him for lunch, come with us." Raven said with a smile as she got up and offered him her hand. He stared up at her then looked at her hand before he nodded and grabbed his books. Taking her hand he stood then brushed himself off.

It would be okay to go to lunch with him if Raven was there, because if Raven was there then it really would only be lunch. If it was only lunch then feelings really wouldn't be involved because he wouldn't be having a one on one conversation with Erik. Raven turned away from him and started walking toward the build he'd been staring at. While she was turned away he took the time to fix his hair, which had grown out far too much and needed a serious cutting sometime soon.

She looked back at him and smiled seeing him messing with his hair and straightening his clothes. "Hurry up, you look fine."

His gaze shot to her as a red tint spread from the bridge of his nose to the tips of his ears. Lowering his head to attempt to hide the blush he started to follow her.

* * *

><p>It turned out Erik was in the middle of teaching a class so Raven pulled him in through the back way and forced him into a seat in the middle row, right in the line of sight for when Erik turned around to face the large class. Raven watched both of their reactions to each other, Charles had taken a sharp breath and the blush had returned, darker than before while Erik had stopped speaking a moment and smiled slightly then glanced over at her before returning to his lesson.<p>

Charles felt like a schoolgirl with a crush on her teacher and he probably looked the part too but he didn't care. He couldn't help but watch Erik's every movement in front of the class with a dopy grin on his face while leaning forward in his seat so that he could hear that amazing accent just a little better.

He'd been paying so much attention to Erik that he hadn't noticed that Raven had slipped out of the classroom until Erik dismissed the class a bit early. He looked around for her but she was nowhere to be found. His attention was drawn to Erik as the man made his way over closer to him.

"Hallo there." Erik smiled looking down at a wide eyed Charles who remained sitting in the desk.

"H-Hi." He managed a faint smile. He fidgeted with his hands on the desk, trying to calm the nerves that were making his stomach to flips and fill with butterflies. Yes, he was getting butterflies like he wasn't already school girlish enough at the moment. "Raven invited me for lunch with you both but she seems to have disappeared…" He laughed nervously.

Why was he acting like this? He hadn't been this nervous around Erik before, before he had played it pretty cool most of the time. Maybe because before he was taken and he knew nothing was supposed come of spending time with Erik, now something could.

"Well Raven has seemed to vanish but do you still want to go get lunch?" Erik asked, setting a hand over top of Charles' to stop his fidgeting.

Another blush spread over Charles' cheeks at the light contact and he was rendered completely speechless. Erik was watching him though, waiting for him to answer so he just nodded which earned him a slight smile from the older man.

Charles happily started to gather his things so they could go when he caught sight of the time. He had one of his more important classed in less than twenty minutes. Realizing he wasn't able to go out with Erik he felt his heart start to sink. He stood up, unable to look at Erik when he delivered the disappointing news. "I-It turns out I actually can't, I have class soon. I'm sorry…"

"Rain-check then?"

Charles' gaze immediately locked with Erik's as a brilliant smile formed on his lips and he nodded. "That would be wonderful."

Erik smiled at the way Charles' deep blue eyes seemed to sparkle with as much joy as his smile held. "Then how about tonight at eight o'clock, dinner, my treat?"

"A-alright… Let me give you my number." Charles set is bag down and took out a pen before he took Erik's hand and scribbled his number down on his palm. He looked up at Erik, biting his lower lip but still smiling once he had finished. In response Erik pressed a sudden, quick kiss to his cheek before whispering in his ear that he'd see him tonight.

A dark blush spread over his entire face as butterflies swarmed in his stomach and made him weak in the knees. Quickly, he exited the classroom before he could collapsed or fainted or embarrassing himself at all in front of Erik.

Once he fully collected himself he headed to his class, unable to wipe the grin off his face.


	12. Chapter 12

I've been… happily distracted lately. PLEASE don't kill me. I love you all. I do! I swear!  
>This is the result of two all-nighters, being sick, Matchbox 20, Goo goo Dolls and Dexter. Enjoy the really long insanity!<p>

**Side notes:** I _always_ stick to the title of my fics. This is called Caught in the Crossfire for a reason…  
>Oh! And I think you all should check out Lab Rat. ^ ^;; I don't mean to shamelessly plug one of my stories but I <em>really<em> like that one. ._.;;

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><p><strong>Chapter 12: Time to come home<strong>

"So… he didn't go to lunch with you?"

"He had to go to class."

"So… you let him not go to lunch with you?"

"Yes but we have a date tonight to make up for it."

Raven stopped walking and grabbed Erik's arm to turn him to face her, shock written all over her face. "Oh shit, really? Oh Erik! That's great!" She grinned, letting go of him to clap her hands together in excitement. She covered her mouth with her hands, bouncing up and down as she squealed like a crazed fan-girl might when seeing their favorite celeb.

Erik backed up, putting his hands up to ward her off. "Raven, it's just a date."

"But you two are so cute together! At the party I kept looking over expecting you two to be all over each other! God! Just the way he looks at you! There's something special there! I just know it. Don't mess it up! "

He watched her spazz out, hoping she'd calm down after she got it out of her system. "You two are going to be so happy! I can see it now, you'll get married and adopt babies and Oh Erik! Don't you dare mess this up and break his heart! I knew Magda was no good, I think he might be your real 'the one.'" When she showed no sign of calming down any time soon he started walking away from her.

"Oh come on Erik!" She screamed after him. "I'm just having fun! You were single for so damn long after that bitch!" She watched as he continued to walk away from her. "Hey! Erik! Come on!" She started running to catch up with him as fast as she could in her heels.

Erik smiled hearing the quickened clicks of her heels and started jogging. "Erik!" He started laughing as he began to flat out run away from her.

"ERIK!"

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><p>Charles was in the middle of his last class of the day, it was late so trying to concentrate and take notes on the lesson was proving hard to do since his mind kept drifting to later tonight. He was at war with himself. He'd <em>just <em>left Logan a week ago but the man hadn't tried to get him back so that had to be a clear sign it was okay to move on and go through with this date. Then again it was _only_ a week ago that he left in the middle of the night.

He sighed and tapped his pencil against his desk as he thought about everything but the notes he should be paying attention to. He thought of everything that could happen tonight, playing out constant scenarios in his head that could happen while he was with Erik. If anything there would at least be a goodnight kiss after the date. The dark stain of a blush crept onto his cheeks as he thought about where _else_ tonight could head.

Erik seemed like a classy fellow though, sex on the first date probably wouldn't happen. But Charles would be lying if he said he didn't look forward to that being a possible outcome.

It seemed to take forever but the class finally ended and he packed up his things as fast as he could. He needed to get back to his place and get ready. Thinking of that brought up another question, what was he going to wear?

As he mentally flipped through his wardrobe he didn't notice Moira, a girl in his study group, walked up to him. "Hey Charles, we're all getting together this evening at the library for a late night study session, there will be snacks and drinks this time, are you in?"

Charles stopped what he was doing and looked at her. That would be the perfect thing to use to get out of this date. Erik would understand because it was really related to school and not because part of him was still screaming for him to go back to Logan. "I can't, Moira. I have a date." He smiled.

She looked at him with a slight frown, adjusting her books so they rested more comfortably on her hip. "But I thought you broke up with Logan."

"I did..." He watched as her expression seemed to take a turn to the darker side, normally she was so happy so the deep frown she now wore looked so out of place.

"Right, so you just dump someone then get with someone else just like that?" She snapped. "That's harsh Charles! What would poor Logan say if he knew you replaced him already, huh?" She stormed passed him and out the door.

It was common knowledge that Moira had a thing for him and that was probably why she had said those things but she had said everything his inner self had been since he agreed to that date.

His shoulder slumped in slight defeat as he picked up his messenger bag and made his way out of the classroom.

Once out side he closed his eyes and bowed his head. He needed to tell Erik that he couldn't go tonight. It was the wrong thing to do when he just broke up with his boyfriend. But when he opened his eyes and looked up he saw Erik running toward him and he felt his heart flutter in his chest. All thoughts of calling tonight off had been shoved out of his head the moment he had laid eyes on the professor.

"Hey" The man said, slightly out of breath.

Charles couldn't control his smile as he looked up at the professor. "Hi."

"ERIK MAGNUS LEHSHERR!"

Erik cracked a wide grin and Charles' eyes widened as he looked passed Erik to see Raven running after him holding her high heels instead of wearing them. "What did you-"

"Come on." Erik grabbed his hand and took off running, pulling him along.

Charles laughed and took off with him. "Where are we going?" He asked as they made their way through a crowd of students.

"My place" Was the only answer that he got as they made their way to a parking lot.

"I need to go to my place and change though!" Charles protested. "I have this big date tonight; I kind of want to impress the guy."

"That's why we're going to my place." Erik said as he pulled out his keys automatically unlocked a sleek black SUV. He opened the passenger side door for Charles before he ran to the other side and got in. As he started the car he looked at Charles and raised an eyebrow "Wait, that 'guy' is me, right?"

"Why are you running from Raven?" Charles asked with a sly smile looking over at the professor as he buckled his seatbelt.

"Well, she was talking about marriage and kids." Erik looked over at Charles before pulling out of the parking lot.

"Isn't she already married? Is she thinking about kids?"

"Yes on both accounts but she was talking about ours."

Charles felt his cheeks set on fire and he was lost for words. He was trying his hardest to fight off images of Erik standing beside him in a beautiful tux with that overly large grin plastered on his handsome face that had flooded into his brain. These were images he had often imagined Logan in before things had gone bad between them now Erik's face replaced Logan's in every single fantasy about a life together he'd ever had.

"Uh… That's just… crazy."

Erik glanced over at him as he drove and cracked a smile seeing the bright red blush spread over Charles' face and the faraway look in his beautiful eyes like he was imagining something having to do with what he said Raven said. "I walked away from her after that and it somehow turned into a chase around campus, leading me right to you."

"Why are we going to your house? I said I needed to change and that's all you said." Charles said, finally managing to shove the thoughts about Erik in a tux from his head.

"You have a change of clothes at my house already." Erik said with a small smile.

Charles remembered then that he'd left his clothes from Halloween at Erik's house when he was there waiting for Erik to change clothes. He smiled and sat back in the seat with a comfortable sigh.

They drove for about an hour in comfortable silence. Charles drifted off at one point, the warmth and purr of the car and the plush seat beneath him perfect for lulling him into a light sleep. When he woke up he watched out the window, stealing looks at Erik. "We've been driving quite a while; you're not taking me somewhere to kill me right?"

Erik smiled at him. "Killing you would be a waste to the world." After a few minutes Erik pulled up into a parking spot in front of something that looked like a shack with tables in front of it and looked over at Charles with a sly smile.

Charles looked out the window then back to Erik in confusion. "This isn't helping the 'not going to kill me' declaration you made… I thought we were going to your house…"

"You look fine, you don't need to change." Charles blushed and was about to protest when Erik opened the door and slipped out.

Erik smiled at Charles before shutting the car door. Charles sat in his seat for a few moments before opening the door and hopping out of the car.

Erik walked up to the stand and looked back at Charles, beckoning him over. Charles smiled and walked over. "This is the best hamburger place that I know of; they do good fish and chips too." Erik explained.

"So what can I get you guys?"

Charles looked at the ginger headed boy behind the small counter then passed him to the menu above the counter. "I'll just have a burger, fries and a soda." He smiled as he took out his wallet.

Erik gently pushed Charles back so he couldn't pay which stumped the younger man but he took a few steps back anyway. The professor smiled at him then turned to the ginger kid and ordered and was just about to pay when Charles started to protest. "I can help pay."

"I did say this was going to be my treat Charles." Erik smiled. "Grab a table."

Charles sighed and nodded. He looked around at all empty tables in the grass in front of the shack and picked one under a red and orange painted tree. He smiled faintly and cleared the fallen leafs off of it then took a seat. He looked up at the sky and his smile grew more, the stars were out and the moon was glowing.

Erik made his way over holding a white receipt. "They'll bring it out when it's done."

"I can't imagine that they have enough room to cook in that thing." He looked over at the shack/stand/thing then back to Erik who was sitting across from him with a small smile on. "What?" Charles asked another smile pulling at the corners of his own lips.

"So Charles tell me about yourself and not about what you're studying, I've gotten an ear full of that already." Erik rested his chin on his palm as he watched Charles with gorgeous green eyes that seemed to glitter in the dim light from the shack and the moon.

Charles couldn't take his eyes off the man in front of him. "Well, you know I'm American but I'm specifically from Westchester, New York." He said in an American accent instead of the English one Erik was used it. Charles chuckled when Erik's eyebrow rose. "I'm 22," he continued in his normal accent, "Live here for 4 years, which I spent living with my ex."

Erik frowned seeing how Charles' demeanor changed, his shoulders slumped and he sighed, no longer meeting Erik's gaze. "Why'd you pick Oxford?"

"It was far away from New York and I used to live here when I was younger, until our house burned down and we moved back…"

"Why'd you move here?"

"My dad died and my mom thought it would be better to live in our second home. Truth was she just wanted to get to the cellar where the expensive wines where kept." Charles was scratching absently at the wooden table where he was staring.

Erik reached out and set his hand on top of Charles', grabbing the younger man's attention. The blue pools sparkled and shined in the light, showing all the emotions swirling around behind them as they met Erik's gaze. A very faint smile pulled at the edges of red until Charles seemed to give in and a full smile took over. "You know enough about me already," he said softly "tell me about you now."

The professor leaned back slightly, he wasn't the open up and share type, not without a few drinks first. It would be nearly impossible for him to say no to Charles though, not with those amazing blue eyes locked on him. "I was born in Poland but grew up in Germany and lived there all my life until I got this job offer a few years ago."

Charles nodded and was about to ask another question when a blonde teen, a few years older than the ginger kid, came out with their food. Erik couldn't help a faint sigh of relief that escaped him as the boy set the plates in front of them then left. "Enjoy."

Charles looked down at his hamburger and felt his stomach growl. "I guess I didn't realize how hungry I was." He laughed a little nervously before picking up the burger and taking a bite. He paused and closed his eyes.

"Something wrong?" Erik asked.

Charles held up a finger as he chewed then swallowed. "God no, this is sooo good. You really weren't kidding!"

Erik smiled and started on his own dinner.

After a while of talking around eating they both finally finished their meals and just talked about whatever came to mind, which was mostly stuff about Erik's job or Charles' school work but there were several points where Charles was laughing too hard to breath. Erik just smiled whenever Charles laughed; he wasn't as care-free as the younger man seemed to be but he loved the sound of Charles' laughter.

Time slipped by them, neither caring to look at a watch or clock the whole time until the Ginger kid called over to them that it was 11pm and they were going to close up but they were free to continue sitting there. Charles looked at Erik with a soft smiled then offered that they head back since Erik had let it slip that he needed to be at work earlier than normal tomorrow to prep for his classes that he had put off to come here with Charles.

Erik agreed with a small smile and the two took care of their trash before getting back in the car. A calming silence took over as Erik pulled out onto the street and headed back toward the university.

* * *

><p>"Here, just drop me off here." Charles said pointing to the bar up ahead. "My friend Scott is the only one working tonight so I can get a ride home from him."<p>

"I insist I can drive you home."

"It's very far out of your way and since you have to teach tomorrow it would best if I didn't keep you up later than I have already…" Charles smiled, softly touching Erik's arm in a reassuring manner.

Erik sighed; there was really no arguing with that, he had to be up in less than six hours. Erik smiled at Charles who was gazing at him with those amazingly blue eyes almost lovingly. He pulled up in front of the bar and stared Charles in the eye. The blue gaze flickered down to his lips and he knew what Charles wanted him to do.

Erik turned slightly resting a hand on the side of Charles' neck. Charles' hand slid to rest on Erik's elbow as he leaned forward slightly. Erik pulled Charles closer into a soft kiss.

Charles' eyes slipped shut as he responded by melting completely into it. The angle of the kiss was awkward so Charles moved closer to him, that didn't help much, so instead Charles pulled back from the kiss. He licked his lips, unsure of himself as he moved over onto Erik's side of the car so he was firmly straddling Erik's lap.

Erik leaned back against the seat and smiled, running his hands down Charles' back to rest on his lower back pulling him closer. Their bodies fit together perfectly, just like two puzzle pieces finally falling into their proper place. Charles smiled a little and pressed his lips to Erik's again.

This felt so right.

Charles threaded his fingers through Erik's short, soft hair and grabbed handfuls earning him a soft groan from the other man. Erik's hands slid down farther to grab his ass causing him to gasp and Erik took the opportunity to slide his tongue passed Charles' lips.

Their tongues lazily explored each other's mouths, slowly slid against each other. Charles couldn't even imagine a better feeling than this. He could only concentrate on the movement of their lips and the slow progression of Erik's heavy hands trailing down his thighs.

"Erik…" He gasped softly against the man's lips. They had separated to take the breath back they had stolen from each other but stayed so their lips were less than a centimeter apart the whole time.

Charles wanted to go back to Erik's place, wanted desperately to feel those lips and hands other places besides where they'd already been. That want, the almost _need _he felt meant he had to go. Erik leaned forward slightly and claimed his lips again just as Charles reached for the drive side door. It would be easier just to get out that way than climbing off Erik and back over to the passenger side.

Erik's long fingers closed around Charles' wrist to stop him from opening the door. "Come back to my place. Screw work."

Charles finally managed to pull himself away, putting more distance between them then there had been in the last few minutes. "No, I need to go and so do you…" Erik pulled him into another kiss and his eyes slipped shut again as he melted into it.

"Alright." Erik whispered against his lips before opening the driver's door for Charles. Charles looked out the opened door and shivered slightly as the wind entered the car sending chills throughout his body. The leafs that painted the street had seemed to regain their color, over the last week there had been nothing but crunchy brown, now the red, orange and gold were all back.

Charles looked back at Erik with a small smile before he got out and closed the door. The window rolled down and Erik leaned out slightly. "Come closer." Charles couldn't hold bad the brilliant smile that tugged at the corners of his lips as he leaned in close. Erik kissed him one final time; it was a short lived kiss but sweet, the perfect 'goodnight kiss.'

He stepped up on the curb and watched as Erik drive off down the street. He waved slightly, smiling and biting his lip until Erik's car was out of sight. He took in a sharp breath and turned, running inside the bar.

"Scott! Scott!" He called as he rushed inside and looked around.

"He's not here" an all too familiar voice answered from below the bar.

Charles froze hearing Logan's voice and his heart stopped dead when the man stood up and looked at him with those hazel eyes. Charles looked away, looked around the bar, anywhere but directly at Logan.

He hadn't been thinking, well he had, normally Logan had off Tuesday nights and Scott worked. But Logan had always taken off Tuesdays _for_ Charles because he didn't have class Wednesdays so they could stay up doing whatever they pleased. So now they weren't together Logan probably didn't take off so of course there was a risk of Logan being here, Charles just hadn't thought it through fully.

"Logan, I-um, where is he?"

"He's getting Jean from the airport so he has off tonight. Why do you need him?"

"Oh…" Charles looked back at Logan who was wiping off the bar. Why did he seem so cold? Charles closed his eyes and thought of Erik. He had the start of something better already, it shouldn't matter if Logan was cold or not. "I was just going to see if he could drive me…" He paused when Logan looked over at him again. "Home."

"Staying at your family's place?" Logan asked as he went back to concentrating on what he was doing.

Charles walked over and sat on one of the stools. "Yes. I can just call a-"

"Want anything?"

"Um… Aren't you closing up?"

"Pouring one or two drinks won't kill me. It's not like I _have_ to be anywhere."

Charles felt a slight sting from those words, one that hadn't been intended but hurt him nonetheless. "I'll have a beer." Logan nodded and got a glass and filled it from the tap before setting it in front of Charles who smiled faintly, still not directly meeting his gaze.

"Charles."

He silently picked up the beer and took a sip, staring into the amber liquid. He kept reminding himself of the amazing evening he had had with Erik. He kept thinking of Erik and how they were already perfect for each other. Perfect…

"Charles, look at me."

His heart throbbed painfully and he closed his eyes, wishing he had just let Erik drive him home or take him back to his place. Thinking of that only made it hurt more, he'd taken the coward's way out with Logan and it had only been a week since that night and he had already moved on. After four years he had already moved on!

He felt a hand slowly lifting his chin but he still didn't open his eyes, not until Logan spoke again. "Why are you crying?"

He hadn't been aware that tears had started slipping down his cheeks or that they had even formed. His breath hitched as he looked up at Logan who was smiling at him just like he had the first time he had seen him cry. That only made the tears fall faster, burning his eyes as they formed.

Charles riffled through his pocket and slammed the money for the beer he hadn't finished down on the counter as he turned and ran out of the bar as fast as he could. He shouldn't have come here, no matter how much of a good idea it had seemed to be.

"Charles!"

Maybe the small part of him that still wanted Logan had done this. It had let his mind slip the thoughts about how Logan only took of Tuesdays for him. Maybe this was just to hurt himself for leaving like he did or for ending it at all. Maybe part of him was just trying to prove that Erik wasn't right and that he was moving way too fast into another relationship.

Coming to a stop in the middle of the street he sobbed quietly, wiping his tears away only to have even more fall. He should have known Logan would be here. He should have known he'd have to face him if he had been there. If he was really ready to move on he should be ready to handle this…

He liked Erik. Erik was safe. Erik was good to him and good for him. Erik was everything that he could ever want! He was sweet, caring, charming and just, for lack of a better word, amazing. But it wasn't Erik's arms that were pulling him close. It wasn't Erik's chest he was being held to.

And it wasn't Erik's lips that were pressed to his trembling ones.


	13. Chapter 13

All your awesome reviews/reactions to the ending of last chapter had me cracking up. ._. I love all the "NOOOOOO!"s I got. XD

This fic and I aren't getting along right now so if this chapter seems a bit choppy, sorry.

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><p><strong>Chapter 13: Mistakes<strong>

Charles tried to roll over but something heavy kept him from moving. He groaned quietly, it not quiet registering that what was keeping him in place was an arm that was wrapped protectively around him. He wrinkled his nose and shoved the arm off of him so that he could roll over and get back into a deeper sleep. He buried his face in the soft pillow, that is until he heard someone stirring beside him and his eyes snapped open.

He sat up immediately and looked at the body lying beside him. Logan was stretched out, his lower half tangled in the sheets so that his nude form was partially hidden. "Oh God…"

He closed his eyes and covered his face with his hands. Last night came crashing back to him now that he was awake. "No, no, no, no, Oh god, no."

He'd been crying in the street when Logan came after him. They had kissed until Logan took Charles home. It had been Charles had pulled Logan to the bedroom and shoved him down on the bed. Charles told him to strip and he did then proceeded to rip Charles' clothes off.

They made love again, it wasn't just sex, wasn't possessive fucking. It was slow, the most passionate sex they'd had in over a year and had Charles moaning so loud he probably woke the neighbors. It felt like it lasted forever and Charles wanted it to. Each time they kissed it with like that first one. After they were both spent and half asleep Logan pulled him close and whispered sweet nothings to him until he fell asleep.

Now that he was awake he was realizing how much of a mistake last night had been so he was quickly looking around for his clothes. Just as he pulled on his boxers Logan's eyes opened.

"What are you doing?" His voice was soft but heavy with sleep.

"I'm leaving, this was a mistake… Last night shouldn't have happened." Charles said pulling on a new pair of pants and fastening the belt with fumbling fingers.

"Charles, come on. Get back in bed." Logan said with a soft smile.

"No." Charles pulled on a button up shirt and started to button in. He had only got two buttons done when he was stopped by Logan's arms around him. He wanted to melt away, lean back into the warmth radiating from the man behind him. He wanted to crawl back in bed and curl up with Logan but that would just undo everything.

"Let me go Logan."

"So you can leave?" Logan hugged him a little tighter

Charles managed to turn and face him so he could look his ex in the eye. "Yes. I shouldn't have come here at all."

"Then I'm not letting go…"

"Logan, let go." He ordered pushing halfheartedly at the man's chest to get him off.

"No Charles."

"Get off Logan!" He started to panic some as he pushed at Logan's chest until he came loose from the other man's grasp. He stumbled back trying to catch himself but he fell and hit the floor with a soft thud. Wide blue eyes shot up to Logan and he moved back when he stepped closer.

"I'm not going to hurt you Charles."

Charles stared up at Logan with a sad expression that said more than words ever could. "Part of me knows that but part of me… can't trust that. Last night was a mistake."

Logan looked as if he's just been slapped as he sat down on the edge of the bed. He sighed deeply and rubbed his temples. "Fine. Get out."

Charles stood and looked over at Logan. He wanted to reach out to him but then Logan would yell at him, it was a cliqued situation used too much in the movies. Charles stood there staring at his ex before he finished buttoning up his shirt and turned away. He quickly ran to the door to leave but stopped and looked back at their bedroom door.

Logan stood there in only a pair of boxers with his arms crossed and a sad look in his eyes. Charles' heart throbbed painfully as he tore his gaze away and walked out the door.

The farther he walked down the hall away from the apartment the better he began to feel. He held is head a little higher and he felt he could breathe again. He made it to the stairs and bounced down the steps until he got to the landing. He stopped upon hearing quickened footsteps behind him.

He looked back up the stairs and saw Logan racing down the steps after him in just a pair of blue jeans. "You can't leave like this." He said before he pulled Charles into a quick kiss. "Charles we can't just let this end. Last night was amazing. Let me fix things."

"Logan, I-"

"Charles. One date, Friday night. Please." When Charles didn't do anything but stare at him with those wide, searching eyes he rested his forehead against Charles' and stroked his cheek almost lovingly. "Let me show you I'll never hurt you again."

Charles closed his eyes and bit his lip. His fingers slowly found their way into Logan's hair and his lips found Logan's. "One date." He agreed.

Logan grinned and nodded. "That's all I'll need."

* * *

><p>"WHAT?"<p>

Charles stared wide eyed at Jean who sat across the table from him.

"Are you insane, Charles? Logan was abusive! Not to mention it sounds to me like you have an amazing guy already!" Jean was leaning half way across the table staring at him with her angry gray eyes.

Scott casually walked over and set three beers down before taking a seat beside Jean. "So what are we talking about now?"

"Charles is being a complete idiot!"

"Nothing new then, huh?" Scott smiled at Charles then took a drink. He looked around until his eyes fell on the small burger shack he'd just came from ordering food from. "How'd you find this place Charles?"

Charles was just about to say that he had come with Erik to this place last night for their date when Jean smacked Scott's arm and growled "Scott, don't change the subject!"

Scott smiled, clearly trying not to laugh and adjusted his shades. "Sorry, sorry. Please continue yelling at our friend."

Jean gave him a stern look then turned her attention back to Charles who was staring down into his beer bottle, looking as if he was about to cry. "Charles, just leave Logan for good already."

"I can't. I can't just up and walk away from a relationship that was so great for so long!" He looked her dead in the eye as he spoke and she slowly leaned back down in her seat. "You can sit there and tell me just to drop him because you won't ever have to do that yourself! You have a great guy who would never do a thing to hurt you but you want to know something? Logan was like that once too! He was caring, sweet and—"

"Charles, he isn't good for you. You have some great guy that clearly seems to like you already, one that would be so much better for you than Logan is. Can't you just stop being so damaged for five minutes and see that?" Jean snapped.

Scott quickly turned his full attention back to the two and put his hand over Jean's mouth before she could say anything else. "Charles, she didn't mean that."

"It's okay, Scott." Charles was trying to seem normal, like being called 'damaged' hadn't affected him at all but his eyes gave away exactly how hurt he was by what Jean had said. "I have trouble letting good things go, even when they turn bad because—"

"Charles you don't need to explain, she'll drop it," Scott said seeing how close to tears his friend already was before he looked at his girlfriend, whose mouth was still covered, and asked "right, Jean?"

Only when she nodded and gave a muffled "yes" did Scott lower his hand.

"Food's ready." The blonde waiter from last night said as he set three burgers with fries down on their table.

Charles was too lost in thought to care about the burger being placed in front of him at the moment. His mind was playing over the entire speech he'd been about to give when Scott cut him off. Maybe giving Logan another chance was the stupid choice but what could it really hurt to try? It was one date and if things didn't work out he could happily be with Erik. This date would be his closure; it would be to let him know it was really over.

He was shaken from his thoughts when the beer bottle was taken from his grasp and set aside so a pair of hands could take a hold of his. "I'm sorry, Charles." The apology was short and sweet but completely meant.

He didn't meet her eye, just stared at their hands but after a moment of giving no response he gently squeezed her hands and put a smile on as he looked up at her. "It's okay, you are right. It's just I need to go on this one last date, for closure. Erik's amazing but I won't feel completely comfortable being with him until I know there can't ever be anything between me and Logan ever again."

"I understand." She smiled.

Just then Charles jumped, startled by his phone vibrating in his back pocket. He quickly took his hands away from Jean and pulled out the phone. "I really have to stop putting this thing in my—" He cut off, biting his lip in a small attempt to stop a smile from taking over his entire face as he looked at the screen.

"What is it, Charles?"

Charles flipped the phone open. "It's Erik, he wants to meet up," he answered absent mindedly as he typed out his response.

Scott smiled to himself seeing how happy Charles had suddenly become before leaning closer to Jean to whisper in her ear. "Don't worry about Charles; there is no way Logan stands any kind of chance against this guy."

At that Jean smiled and pecked him on the cheek before turning her attention to her hamburger.

Charles put his phone down on the table after he sent his message only to pick it up again when it vibrated. He looked up from his phone with a small smile. "He said he'd gonna come get me."

Jean grinned and clapped her hands together. "Great! We get to meet him!"

Scott coughed slightly. "I know him already."

This got him confused looks from Both Jean and Charles. He knew he couldn't tell them that last time he saw the professor he had told him to back off of Charles. He quickly said the second thing that came to mind. "He was one of my professors before I dropped out."

Jean's attention shot from Scott to Charles. "How old is this guy, Charles?"

"He's thirty-one…" Charles said a little confused as to why is would matter.

"He's nine years older than you?"

"Yes?"

"Wow. Big age difference."

"Not really."

"Yes, really. Charles, he was nine when you were just being born."

Charles looked at her completely confused, one second she was practically shoving him at Erik and now she was starting to pull him back because of the man's age. "Well, I don't see anything wrong with it."

"Me either." Scott agreed before taking a bite of his burger.

"Just wait until he gets here, Jean. You'll like him."

The time passed idly by while they continued to catch up until Erik's SUV pulled up next to Scott's sports car, which he had driven the three of them here in since three people couldn't fit on a motorcycle. Charles stood up the moment he saw Erik get out of the car and waved him over to their table with an over sides grin taking over his expression.

Erik waved slightly and walked over to them. "Hey Charles."

"Erik, this is my friend Jean and I've been told you used to teach Scott, so you might know him already. Jean this is Erik."

Erik nodded to Scott who nodded in return then offered Jean a smile and a hand shake. "A pleasure."

Jean stared up at Erik, awestruck by the handsome man she was shaking hands with. Now that she knew more about him and had seen him she couldn't understand why Charles would ever agree to that date with Logan even if it was for closure. "The pleasure is mine." She smiled.

"Charles we better get going." Erik said turning his attention to the blue eyed young man staring up at him with a faint smile.

"Where are we going?"

"If I told you then I would have to kill you."

Charles smiled remembering his concern from the previous night about Erik driving him so far out of town. "Okay. You two don't mind, right?" He asked looking at Scott and Jean, who was still staring at Erik.

Scott smiled. "Have fun."

"Y-yeah…"

Charles smiled at the two and followed Erik back to his car.

* * *

><p>AN: Next chapter will probably be another long one. I just had to get this one out of the way. You'll never guess what's gonna happen. ;D


	14. Chapter 14

It appears I'm killing a lot of people with my slow updating, blame tumblr. It distracts me. This chapter should bring you back to life though.  
>I owe most of this chapter to TIzumi. She is my life saver. I would have no idea what I was going to do with this chapter if not for her.<p>

**Serious warning**: part of this chapter might cause some readers discomfort. I just wanna give you a heads up.

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><p><strong>Chapter 14: Damaged but perfect<strong>

"Do you really have something to show me or could you just not stay away?" Charles smiled as he looked over at Erik who was focusing on the road.

Erik had a face blank of emotion as he drove and answered him with "You'll have to wait."

"Ah, so you were serious about having to kill me then…" Charles watched a small smile tug at the corner of Erik's lips that he was clearly trying hard to hide. He smiled and looked out the front window then the back, making sure there were no cars around so he couldn't cause an accident when he leaned over and pressed a kiss to Erik's cheek. The older man couldn't hide his smile at all after that.

The car pulled over and Erik pulled Charles back to him for an actual kiss. The angle was awkward again but Charles didn't get out of his seat this time. He didn't want a repeat of last night yet, he was too curious about what Erik was going to show him to want to distract him that much. Last night had been amazing though… last night.

Charles quickly pulled back from the kiss. Last night he had cheated on Erik with his ex. Well, was it cheating if that had been the first date? First dates hardly meant they were in a relationship yet, maybe it didn't count as cheating.

"Something the matter?"

"No!" He answered a little too quickly; once he got a better hold of himself he sighed softly and looked over at Erik. "Not at all, we should just get going." He passed it off with a smile but still got a confused look from Erik.

"Alright, well, it's not too far away." Erik said as he began driving again. He stole glances at the younger man who suddenly seemed unable to sit still and began wondering what could be the problem.

Charles tried his best not to think about Logan and what they had done last night but it suddenly seemed impossible not to. He noticed Erik glancing over at him and he tried to act normal by looking out the window. The longer he looked away though the more he felt Erik's eyes on him.

"Charles?"

He looked over at Erik who was actually watching on the road. "Yes?"

"You're acting strange, are you alright?" Erik asked, setting a hand on top of one of Charles' in a concerned manner.

Charles quickly wiped his sweaty palms on his blue jeans before taking Erik's hand in both of his. "I'm fine, Erik." The older glanced at him disbelievingly so he smiled softly and kissed his hand, "I'm more than fine."

They drove the rest of the way in silence, Charles distracting himself from thinking about last night and Logan by staring out the window, counting street signs and stroking the back of Erik's hand.

He felt so much more relaxed by the time the car stopped moving and the engine was shut off. He looked over at Erik who gave his hand a squeeze before pulling his own away and getting out of the car.

Charles watched him go then looked out the front window. A large building stood in front of the car and he stared at it in confusion. Erik opened the passenger side door for him and smiled. "Just going to sit there staring or are you coming with me?"

"What is this place?" He asked as he stepped out of the car and onto the sidewalk beside Erik who just continued to smile at him. Erik took his hand and led him toward the building.

He stopped Charles at the entrance so that he could see the large letters spelling out what exactly this place was.

"Montgomery labs?" Charles read aloud before turning to Erik and tilting his head to the side. "Why'd you bring me here?"

"Do you know what this place is?"

Charles nodded; of course he knew, this place was one of the top genetic research facilities in the world. The people that worked here were the ones that started all of the clinical testing to try to slow the progression of genetically caused health issues such as Huntington's disease or Turner syndrome or even things like spinal muscular atrophy. "Yes, of course I know what this place is, so why did you bring me here?"

Erik smiled and turned Charles back around so that he was facing the building. "I thought you'd like to see where you actually belong in the future. You don't belong behind a desk teaching, Charles. Your passion belongs in a place like this. Maybe someday you'll even run a place like this."

Charles swallowed hard as he stared up at the building. He'd always imagined working in a lab like this one, actually trying to help people and not just teaching but he had settled on teaching when he realized he wasn't smart enough to work at a place like this. "Erik, I'll never be qualified to work he—"

Erik leaned closer to him, his lips brushing against Charles' ear as he whispered "Xavier Labs."

Charles closed his eyes and shivered, leaning back against Erik's warm body as he thought about what the professor was suggesting. There would be no way he could work at a place like this let alone own and run it. He felt arms close around him and he smiled faintly.

That smile faded when his mind shifted to Logan. Not once in four years had Logan even tried to show any real interest in his studies or his future apart from him staying with him. There was once when the man asked him what he studied and he had started to explain but after a few minutes Logan had shut him up with a kiss that turned into sex, wiping all thoughts of genetics from his mind.

He opened his eyes and looked up at the building then turned around in Erik's arms so he could look him in the eye. This man actually cared enough about him to listen to him, Erik wanted him to succeed and do better than even he thought he could do.

"You're not real, are you?" Charles asked quietly as he touched Erik's cheek then slowly threaded his fingers through the older man's dark hair. "This is all some kind of sick joke… isn't it?"

There was no way someone like Erik would be standing here with someone like him in real life. It was only in the movies that guys like this even had a chance of existing and moments as profound as this one were _only_ ever real on the silver screen. He felt tears start building at the corners of his eyes when Erik just smiled at him. "I'm about to wake up, aren't I?"

"No Charles, you're already awake."

Charles took in a ragged breath and shut his eyes, the tears slipped free and rolled down his cheeks before being gently wiped away by the pads of Erik's thumbs. Charles squeezed his eyes shut tighter and bowed his head as more tears came crashing down.

"Charles, hey, what's wrong?"

"Y-you can't be real… You jus-just can't be." Charles whispered through quiet sobs.

Erik smiled and pulled Charles into a close embrace which only made him cry harder. "Why do you think that, Charles? I'm right here."

Memories that he'd long tried to forget slowly began rising to the surface until he pushed them back down, burying them as deeply as he could. He just shook his head and buried his face in the crook of Erik's neck instead of giving a real answer. He didn't deserve Erik or anyone as close to as good as he was.

"Erik, I-I have to-to tell you something…" He pulled away from the embrace and wiped away his tears as he tried to build up the nerve to tell Erik about what happened last night between him and Logan but the longer he stood there looking at the man the more he wanted to bury that away too but Erik deserved to know. "I slept with my ex… Last night…"

Erik's brow furrowed and a frown hid his normal soft smile. "What?"

Charles bit his lip to keep his chin from trembling too much and he couldn't meet Erik's eyes. He took a deep breath to try to calm himself before he spoke. "I… He wasn't supposed to be there when you dropped me off. Things got out of hand. I thought Scott would be there… Erik, I-I'm sorry. I'm screwed up, I—I can get a taxi home."

Charles closed his eyes tightly and bowed his head again. He couldn't stand watching Erik walking away from him after he had shown him something that only existed in movies and books. He just wouldn't be able to handle it; the thought alone had more tears running down his cheeks.

Instead of footsteps there was a sound of a soft sigh then the feel of a hand rested on his cheek, wiping his tears away again before he was pulled closer. Charles squeezed his eyes shut tighter and bit his lip as he leaned against the warm chest he was being pressed to.

"Anything else you need to share?"

Charles briefly debated telling Erik about Friday because he could always just call the date off and Erik would never have to know. He was walking on such thin ice already, telling him would cause it to break. "I-I have a date with him Friday…" He felt Erik start to pull away and he sank farther into himself. "It's only for closure."

"Then let me go with you."

Charles opened his eyes and stared up at Erik with a surprised and confused expression. Why wasn't Erik driving away by now? And why would he offer something like that? It wouldn't be a good idea for Erik meet Logan. Logan would try to hurt Erik once he realized he was the same person from the card incident, Halloween and the stairs the night before Charles left. All the events that lead to their break up could be traced back to Erik. But what if Erik wanted to hurt Logan for getting Charles to sleep with him again?

"Why?"

Erik smiled faintly and stroked his tear stained cheek. "I'll just make sure he doesn't try anything else. I'll be there to keep you grounded."

Charles just stared at Erik for a long time. He couldn't believe that someone like this found any interest in him. He closed his eyes and made a small vow to never mess up like this again as he wrapped his arms around Erik's neck and pulled him into a soft kiss. "I don't deserve someone like you…" He whispered under his breath.

"Why do you say that?"

"I'm screwed up, Erik… Totally damaged…" He laughed sadly and shook his head.

Erik gave him a look that said 'you're an idiot' then kissed him. "You're perfect, Charles."

Charles' breath hitched and his gaze shot to Erik, for a long time he just stared at him with his mouth slightly open in disbelief soon his. When he finally managed to breathe again he smiled faintly. "Perfect?"

"Completely."

The smile on Charles' face grew even as he tried to bite his lip to stop it. Mischief flickered behind those wide blue eyes and he leaned up closer to Erik, whisper in his ear. "Take me home."

* * *

><p>Charles moaned softly when Erik bit and sucked his lower lip, it was something the Logan did all the time but it had never been as erotic as it was right now. Charles ran his hands down Erik's chest until they reached the hem of his turtle neck; he slowly began to pull the fabric up as his hands slid back up Erik's sides.<p>

He gasped in surprise when Erik suddenly pushed him back on to the bed instead of letting him continue. Licking his kiss swollen lips he tasted Erik as he watched the professor pulled his turtleneck off over his head, revealing the gorgeous tan skin and rippling muscles that had been hidden underneath it.

They had driven to Charles' house because it was closer and began to kiss much like they had last night. This time however Erik kissed his neck as well, somehow managing to find each sensitive spot he had there, and Charles began grinding against Erik, making delicious noises that should only be heard in a bedroom.

Erik suggested that they take it inside before things got even more out of hand and Charles agreed. They both took a minute to calm themselves at least slightly before they got out of the car and took it inside where Charles dragged him to the nearest bedroom.

As soon as Charles had opened the door Erik had grabbed him and pulled him into a messy kiss. Something snapped deep in Charles and he had shoved Erik away from him but he had quickly covered it by pressing his lips back to Erik's and pushing him backward toward the bed where Erik had just pushed him down.

Charles reached out and grabbed Erik's belt loops and pulled the professor down on top of him. Erik just managed to catch himself before he fell on top of Charles and smirked down at the eager young man that was practically shaking with need.

"Take your shirt off."

Charles quickly obeyed and began unbuttoning his shirt as he stared up at Erik who stopped him at the second button.

"Slower."

He blushed and started unbuttoning his white shirt slower. Erik began kissing his neck again, just as he had done in the car but this time he used his teeth, biting and tugging at the sensitive areas he had discovered earlier. Charles bit his lower lip and tilted his head back, giving Erik more room, as his fingers began to fumble over the buttons, suddenly finding his shirt impossible to get out of.

Erik's lips slowly moved from his neck to his chest, kissing and nipping a trail down the beautiful pale skin that was exposed by each undone button.

When Charles finally got to the last one Erik followed the trail back up the younger man's slender torso until diverted from his path and his lips found one of Charles' soft pink nipples. He pushed the two halves of Charles' shirt aside and nipped at the sensitive skin until it became hard and he took it in his mouth. As he sucked and bit one as his fingers found the other, pinching and twisting it until Charles was moaning and arching his back.

Charles needed the feeling of Erik's lips against his but the stimulation Erik was giving him at the moment was so amazing. His need for a kiss won out and he tangled his fingers in Erik's hair and pulled him into a kiss.

Just as their lips came together Erik took the moment to grind down on Charles who arched off the bed and moaned. He could feel the younger man's erection straining against the confines of his jeans and he couldn't help but smile.

Charles opened his eyes and looked up at Erik but instead of Erik he saw Kurt Marko over top of him, smirking down at him. His eyes widened a fraction and his breath caught in his throat. The image quickly vanished when Erik looked him in the eye then leaned down and began kiss his neck again.

"Erik…" He groaned as the older man continued to grind against him; it was partly out of lust that his name left his lips and partly to remind himself that this _was_ Erik, no one else, just Erik.

Charles quickly tried to push the memories that were resurfacing down. He glanced around the room and bit his lip, realizing this was probably the worst room to do this in.

Slowly his worries faded, completely replaced by lustful thoughts as Erik moved back down his chest while his hands worked to open Charles' uncomfortably tight jeans. As Erik worked to get his pants off Charles kicked off his shoes. His jeans and boxers were quickly discarded, joining his shoes on the floor and leaving him in nothing but his opened button up.

Erik eyed the gorgeous sight in front of him and licked his lips like a predator might while watching its helpless prey.

"What is it?" Charles asked, a little unnerved by the fact Erik was just staring at him.

"Perfection." Erik answered simply before claiming Charles' lips.

Charles blushed deeply as his eyes slipped shut and he wrapped his arms around Erik's neck as he kissed him back. As they kissed Erik's long fingers closed around his erection and slowly began stroking the sensitive head. Charles moaned against his lips and bucked his hips, thrusting into Erik's grasp.

Erik smiled and pulled back from the kiss so he could watch Charles' reactions. The younger man was beautiful. The way his ruby lips were parted as his breath came in pants and gasps, his brilliant blue eyes darkened with need and lust and the way his voice sounded as he moaned, were all too beautiful.

Erik moved down until he was between Charles' slender legs. Charles propped himself up on his elbows to watch Erik, only to drop back on the bed when Erik took him into his mouth.

Charles gasped and cried out at the feeling of Erik's hot, wet mouth locked on his member. He couldn't watch the erotic scene or else he's come right then so he closed his eyes and tried to stay calm so it would last.

"God…" Erik's tongue was doing such amazing things to him he couldn't control himself when his hips began thrusting up to get himself farther into Erik's mouth. The older man simply held hips down with one hand so he couldn't move them anymore and Charles groaned in frustration.

"Oh god, oh god, Erik. Mmm…" Charles gasped and laced his fingers through Erik's short dark hair as he took more of Charles into his mouth. He pulled his hair and gasped. "Erik, I'm…" he was so close, he felt his orgasm steadily creeping up on him, ready to take over but Erik drew back.

Charles could have cried when the contact was pulled away but he was also thankful for it. This allowed him to step back from the edge so that it could all last longer. When he opened his eyes he saw Erik sitting between his legs staring at him with a lustful gaze and a small, devilish smirk.

"_Spread your legs wider." When he didn't comply his stepfather forced them apart.  
>"Please don't! Kurt, Stop it!" <em>

Charles swallowed hard, a cold shower of fear running over him unable to shake the memory until Erik asked "do you have lubricant?"

He nodded and pointed to the bedside table. As Erik grabbed it he tried to push away the memories. Erik was amazing and this wasn't the _exact_ room that all happened in, why did they keep rising to the surface now?

"_You don't deserve any better than this so enjoy it."  
>Charles screamed when the man entered him.<em>

When Erik turned back to him he pulled him close and kissed him soundly. The memories finally faded as he concentrated on the movement of their lips and Erik's fingers weaving through his hair.

He gasped feeling a slick finger circle his entrance before Erik slowly inserted his finger into him. Charles let out a quiet groan of discomfort as he shifted his hips.

Erik's hand stayed tangled in the chestnut curls but his lips moved to the spot right below Charles' ear, earning him a soft moan. He began slowly thrusting his finger in and out of Charles until he thought the younger man was used to it so he added a second. Charles soon started moving his hips so that he met Erik's thrusts and that's when a third was added.

Erik scissored two of his finger so that he could properly prepare Charles while the third finger had the task of finding the sweet spot inside the younger man that would make him…

Charles arched off the bed, his head thrown back as a loud moan escaped him and his whole body jerked at the rush of pleasure it had just received from Erik's finger brushing against his prostate.

Erik smiled slightly and unbuttoned his pants, shoving both them and his boxers down one handed as he continued to finger Charles. He grabbed the lube again and thoroughly coated his erection before removing his fingers from Charles who whimpered at the loss.

Charles opened his eyes and stared up at Erik when he felt the hot head of the older man's erection pressed firmly against his entrance, waiting for a sign it was okay. Charles nodded and tried to remember how to breathe as Erik entered him slowly. Three fingers hadn't been enough to really prepare him.

He took in a sharp breath to try to control the pain for being stretched and Erik stopped moving, "are you okay?"

Charles nodded and urged him to continue by moving his hips slightly. He only remembered how to really breathe when Erik was fully inside of him. It was painful but amazing as well.

Erik began to slowly pull out of him after he had given him the okay, stopping several times when Charles' face contorted in pain. He kissed the younger man to help him relax as he thrust back into the amazing, tight heat that surrounded him. It was truly taking all of his self-control not to thrust wildly into Charles.

The pace was slow at first but as Charles got used to it the pace picked up speed. Erik kept shifting the angle of his thrust to try to find Charles' sweet spot again and when he finally did Charles dug his short nails into his shoulders and arched beautiful, crying out as ecstasy flooded his senses.

As Erik continued to thrust into his prostate Charles was left a moaning, begging mess. They kissed passionately, their tongue intertwining and exploring each other's mouths. Charles dragged his nails down Erik's chest which seemed to spur him on but triggered a memory for Charles.

_His small hands pushed at the hard chest above him to try to get the man off of him as he cried from the pain. "I'll tell mommy!"  
>"She won't care or believe you."<br>__Charles cried harder knowing he was right. _

Charles shook his head, trying to push the memory away as he rolled them over so he was on top of Erik straddling his waist. He rested his hands on his chest to steady himself as he started riding and grinding down on him.

The memory didn't leave him alone this time and he began to shake as tears built up and ran down his cheeks as his body slowly stilled.

"Charles what's wrong?" Erik asked through panting breaths as he propped himself up on his elbows and gazed up at the younger man. Charles' eyes were shut tight and his hands curled into fists. "Charles look at me." Erik whispered softly as he stroked his cheek.

"_Look at me, tell me you enjoy this." A harsh slap stung his cheek when he didn't open his eyes and look up at Kurt. _

"Charles…" The younger man let Erik draw him into a warm embrace as he broke into quiet sobs.

"I'm sorry… I can't. I can't do this, not in this house…"

"What's wrong?" Erik asked as he held Charles close, his voice laced with concern."Charles, we can stop." He whispered through soft pants as he tried to calm himself down.

Charles shook his head and shifted his hips causing Erik groan and making all his work he had done to calm down come instantly undone. "No, nevermind, I'm fine. It's just bad memories." Charles leaned forward to kiss Erik but the older man stopped him.

"What is it Charles?"

Charles looked away and closed his eyes tight. "Can't we just…"

"Charles."

He leaned into the crook of Erik's neck and sighed softly. "This house was burnt down and Sharon, my mother had it rebuilt... I thought it wouldn't affect me but this-this is the remake of the room my stepfather…" Charles took in a deep breath, "that my stepfather took advantage of me… on multiple occasions… when I was little in..."

Erik stared at him with an expression akin to horrified. He wanted to ask more questions, like why didn't his mother know? How/Why did it start? How long ago was it? And where was this man now? But he kept his mouth shut, Charles had already told him something extremely personal and pushing it might cause him to close up.

"I told you… Screwed up… Damaged." Charles bit his lower lip to keep it from trembling as more tears started to form.

"Abused isn't the same as damaged." Erik corrected as he stroked Charles' cheek and rested his forehead against his. "You're still perfect."

Charles gazed lovingly into Erik's eyes before he grabbed a hold of the man's hair and kissed him fiercely. He had just told him his biggest secret, one it had taken Logan two and half years to find out, and Erik accepted it, still thought he was perfect even.

The only thought that passed through his mind as he kissed him was that he truly didn't deserve this man at all.

Charles smiled and began grinding down on Erik's lap. The part of the older man's erection that he had managed to calm down in case they were going to stop sprang back to life. "Erik, I-I want to… finish this…"

Erik gasped and nodded, "Okay." He lay back, pulling Charles down with him and rolling them over so that he was on top again. He saw Charles' eyes widen fraction this time and he stroked Charles' hair, brushing it back. "Charles, watch me, know this is me and no one else."

Charles nodded and smiled faintly, shifted his hips to let Erik know it was okay to start again.

The thrusts were slow but pleasurable, leaving Charles shuddering in pleasure. He tried keeping eye contact with Erik or at least keep his eyes on him but as the pace quickened again his eyes rolled back and he tilted his head, moaning. "Erik..! Harder…"

When Erik found the proper angle that would give Charles the most pleasure again, he stopped holding back and thrust into the young man faster, slamming into his protest.

"Yes! God, Yes! Erik!" Charles cried out, his nails digging into Erik's shoulder blades to help ground himself. He looked up at Erik only to throw his head back again with a loud moan when he rammed into the bundle of nerves again.

Charles was quickly reaching his climax but he wanted this to last so he tried to keep himself off the edge longer by distracting himself with kissing Erik but the feel of the man's tongue massaging his just pushed him closer to the edge. "Erik... I'm so… close!" He gasped against the older man's smirking lips.

"Then come, Charles."

At that Charles did, with a cry of Erik's name Charles came harder than ever before, ropes of sticky white coating his stomach as his whole body trembled with the aftershocks. He was so lost in the waves of his own orgasm that he almost missed the soft gasp of his own name as Erik hit his own climax.

After he calmed down Erik pulled out of Charles and rolled off of him to lay beside him, panting. Charles closed his eyes, tired, but he rolled over and moved closer to Erik so that he could rest his head on the professor's broad chest.

"That was… amazing." Erik sighed contently as he wrapped his arms around Charles, holding him close and absently stroking his sweaty forehead and soft hair.

Charles smiled happily, looking up at Erik and kissed his cheek then nuzzled up against the older man's neck. "It was perfect." Charles commented with a soft huff of a laugh.

"Yeah." Erik nodded.

Charles closed his eyes, slowly drifting off to sleep as he listening to Erik's breathing even out.

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><p>AN: Added the Kurt part cause it explains why Charles holds on to good things even when they go bad. He doesn't believe he deserves better because of what Kurt did to him.


	15. Chapter 15

Sorry, lack of motivation to write this hit me and I wrote like two new fics instead…. ^^; This multi fic thing is getting out of hand. /goes to update two other fics/ Oh, yeah, I am being evil and making you wait another chapter to find out what happens. Blame me irritation with ending fics on an even number of chapters. WOuld have been WAY too long if I hadn't.

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><p><strong>Chapter 15: Drunken Dialing<strong>

When Charles opened his eyes the first thing he noticed was he was alone in bed. His heart started to sink as he just lay there staring at the empty side of the bed. He had thought Erik would have stayed the night after last night. So many amazing things had happened that him not staying had to have meant he really couldn't handle it.

Charles nodded to himself; it made sense that he left. Erik was too good for someone like him. Sitting up Charles winced, the burned in his lower back was sharp but faded fast, until he moved that is. He got off the bed and stood up, his face scrunching up in a pained expression. It would be smart to get a shower before he had to go to class this afternoon.

He didn't bother to pull any clothes on or cover up since he was sure he was alone in the house. He looked around but didn't see any of Erik's clothing. With a sigh he headed for the bathroom.

When he reached the bathroom he heard the water already running and knit his brows together in confusion. When he opened the door he was greeted with warm waves of steam and the sound of soft humming.

Erik moved the curtain back and peered out at him. He grinned and Charles couldn't help but smile a little seeing that familiar shark-like smile, "Come to join me?"

"You stayed." Charles' smile grew a little at the realization that Erik was really still here. He glanced over and saw the professor's clothes folded on the counter beside the sink. He felt relief bubbling up and he could breathe easily again.

Erik looked at him like he was crazy before nodding, "Yes, of course."

Charles smiled brightly and walked over. As soon as he slipped in the shower Erik claimed his lips. He happily responded to the kiss before pulling back to ask "Do you have to teach today, _professor_?"

"I don't _have to_." Erik smiled as he wrapped his arms around the younger man's slender body.

Charles blushed faintly and rested his head on Erik's chest as he let the water hit his bare back. He started gently kissing the side of the professor's neck and shivered as Erik ran his hands up his sides. Charles let his body take over completely. He let himself touch, kiss and nip where and when it felt right, earning soft noises of encouragement from Erik.

The moment was intensely intimate and the fact that there was no feeling that this _had_ to go any farther just added to it, making time seem to slow as water crashed down on the pair.

"I…" Charles had to stop himself. He didn't really want to, it felt as if it was the perfect time to say 'I love you' but it was far too soon to even think that word. Although for some reason it felt like it would be the right thing to say. It felt as if he should have been saying it to this man all along.

"What is it, Charles?" Erik asked, whispering against Charles' damp hair.

"It's nothing, Erik." Charles smiled up at him and stroked his slightly stubbled cheek. "I'm just happy you're still here."

Erik held him close and began kissing his neck. Charles tilted his head back; rivulets of water from his hair ran down his skin as he let out a breathy moan. He started feeling dizzy and slightly overwhelmed by the events of the last 24 hours so he wrapped his arms around Erik's neck and held on to him.

The shower seemed to last forever but from start to finish it was completely perfect. Once it was over and Charles was towel drying Erik's hair Erik suddenly picked him up bridal style and kissed him. Charles let the towel drop to the ground as he smiled and threaded his fingers through Erik's hair as he kissed him.

When they left the bathroom Charles spotted the time. "Erik I'm going to be late for class." He quickly got down and went to his dresser. He bit his lip and looked back at Erik before taking off the towel he had had wrapped around his hips then dug through his dresser to fine something to wear.

"Why don't you just skip today?" Erik asked, slightly distracted by the flawlessness of the younger man's bare body.

"Because this is important to me and you need to go to class too." Charles pulled on a pair of boxers and pants before he turned around and walked over to Erik to place a soft kiss on his lips. "As much as I'd like to keep you tied up in bed, you have work." He nipped at Erik's lip before he turned and went to his closet to get a shirt.

"Tied to the bed?" Erik asked raising an eyebrow.

Charles blushed and looked over his shoulder at the professor with a suggestive wink.

"So when do we get to do that?" Erik asked as he went to retrieve his clothes from the bathroom so he could dress.

"Oh, I don't know… How's tomorrow night?"

"After the date with your ex?"

"I'm going to need cheering up." Charles grinned as he buttoned the last button on his clean white shirt. "I can't think of a more perfect way to do that…" He walked over to Erik before pulling him closer and whispering against his lips, "than to have you under me, tied to your own bed." He blushed and turned away. "Hurry up, I don't want to be late."

"You'll be fine." Erik said pulling Charles back to him. "I'll write you a note."

Charles shivered when Erik played the teacher card. Late notes were something the only high school teachers did but that didn't stop it for being completely sexy coming from the professor. Charles bit his lip but easily gave in to the kiss being pressed to his lips and the tongue requesting entrance into his mouth.

He willing gave in and let Erik press him down onto the bed where kissing became heavy grinding which quickly turned into sex. It was fast and rough and well worth Charles showing up to class disheveled and half an hour later than he would have already been.

* * *

><p>It was a little after eight pm and he had just texted Erik that he was too busy studying to go to his house tonight. Setting his phone down, he opened his computer and text book. He got to working and lost track of time until someone walked up to him.<p>

"Hey Charles."

"Scott?" Charles looked up from the screen of his laptop to see his friend standing in front of him in the library. He knit his brows together and tilted his head to the side in confusion. Scott stood there smiling at him and holding a stack of books. "What are you doing here?"

Scott set his books down on the table and sat down, adjusting his glasses. "Studying, same as you."

"Are you kidding me? Are you back in school?" Charles grinned, pushing his work aside for the time being.

"I'm thinking about it."

Charles' smile disappeared, replaced by a frown when he realized something was wrong, Scott's eyes were reddened around the edges as if he had recently been in tears. Charles had never once seen his friend cry, he was one of those types that is he were to it would be completely heartbreaking to anyone that saw him. "Scott…" Charles reached out and grabbed his friend's hand in both of his, staring him dead in the eye, "What's wrong?"

Scott frowned and shrugged a little, "Jean just left me, no big deal." He passed it off and pulled his hand away from Charles so he could grab one of his books.

"I'm so sorry..."

"Like I said no big deal."

Charles got up and walked around the table so he could give Scott a proper hug. He sat ended up sitting on Scot's lap so it wouldn't he such and awkward angled hug and while he held his friend, who still acted like nothing was really wrong said "I think it would be a good idea to go get drunk and forget about her for a while. What do you say?"

"Hell yes."

Charles smiled, got up and gathered up his stuff so they could leave. "Let's go anywhere but the bar." Charles said, knowing being drunk around Logan would be a terrible idea.

Scott snorted a laugh. "Knowing you it would be better if you just stuck to nonalcoholic drinks."

"Hey! I'm not going to do anything else to screw up what Erik and I already have."

"You've been with him for, what, three days?" Scott laughed following Charles out of the library.

"I know and you know I hate those people who are 'in love' after the first date but… There's something really there."

"You sure he's not just a rebound?"

Charles stopped walking and turned to stare at Scott. "He's not… He's absolutely perfect. But speaking of rebounds, that's what we need to get you. A nice hookup!"

"Yeah… Let's not do that and just go get drunk at my place."

* * *

><p>"Erik, I love you… It's crazy because it's so soon but you're everything anyone could want. I wanted to tell you this morning but I thought it would be stupid of me." Charles mused into the phone. He had helped Scott to finish a few bottles of vodka and was completely smashed curled up on the couch. Scott had passed out at this point and Charles was drunk dialing Erik.<p>

"Charles, how many have you had?" Erik laughed.

"Shots or *hic* bottles?"

"Do you need me to come and get you?"

"No *hic* no, I'm at Scott's. Erik, you didn't say it back… *hic*" Charles pouted.

"I love you too Charles. Now you should get some sleep it's one am."

Charles sobered up just a little to realize Erik had said it back without laughing about it like it was some kind of joke. "Really? Do you mean that?" he asked in disbelief

"Yes, now hang up and get some sleep before you do anything you might end up regretting."

"Okay, I will… I *hic* love you…"

"Love you too, goodnight Charles."

Charles hung up the phone and grinned, kissing the screen. He reached over to the table a grabbed a bottle with about one shot's worth left still in it and downed it. Curling up a little tighter he flipped through the contacts on his phone until he came to Logan's name.

He frowned knowing that is wasn't a good idea to call him and he was about to close his phone when his drunken made him press the 'dial' button and pressing the phone to his ear instead.

"Hello?"

"Logan… *hic* I miss you."

.

.

* * *

><p>Drinking + Charles = NEVER a good idea<p> 


	16. Chapter 16

So so so so sorry this took _so_ damn long… It only has one more chapter after this so my motivation died on me. :\ Actually all my motivation is dying on me. I desperately need to get my head on straight. Once I fix my brain things will be back to normal… Hopefully. :( Enough about me! Onto the chapter!

Sorry I didn't edit this very well but I'm tired and I thought you all waited long enough.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 16: Dating disaster <strong>

Charles felt as though his head was going to explode as his brain throbbed painfully, punishing him for drinking so much last night. He opened his eyes only to close them again to guard against the light shining through the windows onto his face. "Damn it…" He muttered as he blocked the light and opened his eyes just enough to look around.

He was at Scott's place lying on the couch. He remembered that last night he had come over to have a few drinks to help his friend forget that his longtime girlfriend had dumped him because when she was in American she cheated on him or at least she said she did. Charles thought she'd just given that bullshit excuse to leave Scott because he had told her he forgave her but she still left anyway. They drank and watched a few movies to help Scott forget about her but other than that Charles couldn't remember anything.

"Hey! About time you got up."

Charles could have screamed at his friend for being so loud. "_Dear god_, keep it _down_." His voice came out dry and hoarse, he desperately needed a glass of water.

Scott laughed but quieted down a little for his friend, "Hangover?"

"How do you not have one?" Charles hissed as he slowly rose to a sitting position. He felt nauseous so he buried his face in his hands and breathed deeply to fight it off.

"I got over it this morning."

His gaze shot to his friend. "Morning? What time is it?"

"3 pm, sleeping beauty." Scott smiled.

"Why didn't you wake me up, Scott?" Charles jumped up and swayed where he stood. The blood rushed to catch up with him causing his head to throb more painfully and new waves of nausea to wash over him, making him feel as though he was going to vomit.

Scott just smiled at him and laughed quietly. "When did you finally go to sleep last night?"

"I don't know!" He hissed, "I hardly remember last night after you opened the second bottle." He rubbed his temples, trying to and failing sooth his raging headache as he was forced to sit back down.

"You're such a light weight, Charles. Do you want anything for your head?"

"God, yes, water too."

* * *

><p>Charles said bye to his friend and walked down the street. He knew he had a change of clothes at Erik's place and he wanted to see him before that date with Logan. Erik had offered to go with him but the more he thought about it the more he wanted to do this on his own.<p>

He liked the idea of ending it with Logan then being able to go to Erik's and just forget about how awful the date would probably turn out to be.

He walked up to Erik's door and knocked, he waited a few minutes before knocking again then finally remembering that Erik was probably teaching. He sighed and rested his head to the door.

His phone vibrated in his back pocket letting him know he got a text message and causing him to jump and curse quietly. Biting his lower lip he pulled his phone out and frowned seeing it was from Logan.

_See you tonight at the bar at 8._

"Charles?"

Charles turned around to see Erik walking up the driveway. He smiled and quickly put his phone away. "Hey. I was wondering if I could change my clothes here, you said you still had my clothes from Halloween."

"Yeah, of course you can." Erik smiled as he pulled out his keys to unlock the door.

Charles pressed a quick kiss to the professor's lips then rushed inside as soon as the door was open.

"Your clothes are upstairs."

"Lead the way."

Erik smiled at him and shut the door before he dropped his briefcase on the couch. Charles watched him slowly walk closer and grinned when he kissed him. He made a noise of surprise when Erik suddenly picked him up.

Laughing softly, he held on as he was carried bridal style up the steps. Erik carefully let him down when they were in his room. Charles could see the same slightly feminine touch that the rest of the house had in here as well and he felt a little doubt twist in his gut again. He wanted to ask but he remembered how Erik reacted to him commenting on the decor last time so he stayed quiet.

Charles walked over to the bed and let himself fall face first into the mattress, glad to be free of his headache from earlier. "Logan wants me at the bar at 8 for that date."

"You don't sound too happy about that." Erik said as he sat beside where Charles lay.

"I'm not. I don't really want to go tonight but I know it's best if we both get closure." Charles rolled over and sat up.

"Then stay here." Erik kissed his lips softly before trailing kisses along his jaw and down his neck.

"I already said I'd go and anyway I'm spending the night here." He smiled and willingly laid back down when Erik pushed him back, moving over top of him. Erik continued to kiss his neck softly until suddenly he bit down on the soft, pale skin.

Charles gasped and bit his lip as the professor's hands moved under his shirt, slowly sliding up his torso. "Erik…" He sighed, "Not right no-" He cut off into a soft moan as Erik's lips and teeth found the sensitive spot just below his ear.

"What was that?" The professor asked quietly, whispering against the shell of his ear.

Charles shivered. "Save it for tonight."

"I'm only undressing you. You wanted to change clothes, right?" He smirked as he moved off of Charles and helped him out of his shirt, acting innocent.

Charles sat up again and narrowed his eyes playfully. "I doubt that's all you're aiming for, Erik."

"You're right, that's not all." Erik's eyes slowly traveled over Charles' bare torso and his large, toothy grin slowly unfolding over his features before he pounced, pinning the younger man back down.

"Erik!"

* * *

><p>"Erik please just come and pick me up at 10. This shouldn't take more than two hours." Charles whispered as he stroked Erik's cheek lovingly. "I'm not going home with anyone but you."<p>

They were both sitting in Erik's car outside of the bar. Charles was in a clean set of clothing but his hair was still slightly disheveled from earlier despite his best efforts at trying to fix it. Erik was well groomed as always with a faint reassured smile on his face as he stared at Charles.

He had been insisting on going with Charles to make it easier on him but he turned every offer down. "I'll be back at 10 sharp."

Charles ran a hand through the professor's short hair and drew him into a soft kiss before he turned to get out of the car. He opened the door and was about to get out when Erik reached over and tapped his shoulder. "Charles."

"Yes, Erik?"

"I love you."

Charles' eyes widened as he stared at Erik. He could feel his heart pounding against his chest and all the air from his lung quickly escaping him. Had he really heard that right? Erik loved him? "What?"

Erik looked slightly shocked at the question. "Last night…" He seemed to suddenly understand and he smiled softly, "you were pretty drunk last night."

"I-I said I… I love you last night?" Charles frowned; he didn't remember talking to Erik at all last night. It was how he felt more than anything but he thought he remembered agreeing with himself to wait a little longer before telling Erik that.

"You don't?"

Charles couldn't hold back a grin. "No, no, I do! I just- You said it without me having to… You mean it."

"Of course." Erik smiled and leaned over closer; Charles quickly closed the gap between them and pressed his lips to Erik's.

"I love you, Erik. I'll be back soon."

Charles turned and hopped out of the car offering Erik a soft smile before he closed the car door. His heart still fluttered in his chest and it took all his might not to jump around in joy or burst into tears of absolute happiness. They hadn't been together for very long at all but still Erik felt as strongly as he did already.

He bit his lip and headed inside the bar even though the sign said it was closed.

He spotted Logan right away; he was sitting at a table with a beer bottle in front of him looking blankly at it before taking a drink. He immediately brightened up upon seeing Charles walk through the door. "Hey."

"Hi, Logan." He forced a small smile and walked over to take a seat opposite his ex.

"Don't sit down, come on." Logan said getting up and grabbing Charles by the wrist before pulling him out of the bar.

"We're not staying here?" Charles asked as he watched Logan lock up. After a moment he sighed and looked away, looking at the busy street to distract himself from being taken back to all those nights when he'd stay with Logan until closing time and then they'd walk home together.

"Of course not. You're giving me a chance, I'm not wasting it."

He turned around to face Logan, he needed to tell him this wasn't for a second chance anymore, it was just for closure. "Logan, I- What are you doing?" Charles shrieked in surprise when he was suddenly picked up and slung over Logan's shoulder. "Put me down." He was laughing but it was obvious in his voice that he was actually concerned about this situation, embarrassed that people were staring and semi-serious about being put down.

Logan shook his head. "Not a chance."

"People are staring, put me down." Charles frowned as he propped himself up with his hands on Logan's lower back so all the blood wouldn't rush to his head.

"Let them." Logan held Charles like this without moving until he stopped struggling. After he got his way he started walking, Charles still over his shoulder.

After a couple blocks of being carrying Charles was finally let down to walk on his own. He stumbled when his feet touched the ground, not fully ready to be put down so suddenly.

"Come on, we're almost there." Logan grabbed his hand and started walking again, not giving Charles any time to steady himself.

Charles walked quietly along with Logan but his mind was elsewhere, back at Erik's house, curled up on that big, soft bed with the professor's arms wrapped tightly around him. His insides were twisting into knots making him feel uneasy and ill. This wasn't going to end well no matter what happened, Erik would come pick him up and Logan would know, he would connect all the dots that led to their break up, the dots that led back to Erik. He should have just canceled this whole thing like Erik had suggested.

His worried mind was so busy playing out all of the ways this could go so wrong that he hadn't noticed they had stopped walking.

"Charles, what's wrong?"

He snapped out of it and looked up at Logan. His vision was clouded with unshed tears that his overactive mind had caused to form; he didn't want to hurt Logan any more than he already had but that's exactly what he was going to end up doing. "It's nothing."

Logan didn't say anything, just stared at him

Charles couldn't look back at him so he took a moment to look around; they were in the park standing near the benches so he walked over to them and took a seat, shoving his hand in the pockets of Erik's jacket that he borrowed because Erik told him it would get chilly tonight.

Logan took a seat next to him, close enough so the he could feel the heat of the other man's body but not close enough that they were squished together. He knew he had to tell Logan that this wasn't the type of date they had originally planned; he knew he had to tell him about Erik.

A long silence that lasted several minutes passed between them before Charles got the nerve to speak. He took in a deep breath and turned to face his ex, "Logan, this isn't-"

"Hush." Logan cut him off and pressed a quick kiss to his lips, "Charles we've been through so much together…" He rested a hand on Charles' thigh, it as a warm comforting present but still Charles let go of a soft sigh.

"I know but there is a point when I…" He swallowed thickly and took one hands out of his pockets to rest it over top off Logan's to show some signs of comforting, "When I can't keep letting things happen that can harm me. I keep going down the same path and it has to stop, Logan."

"Charles, you need to believe, I'm not going to hurt you again." Logan stroked his cheek softly and he closed his eyes, leaning into the warming touch.

He didn't want to talk about this anymore, he wanted to get up and run, just disappear so he didn't have to have this talk. He turned his face away so that he was staring out at the field in front of them. "How can I? You promised you'd never hurt me on purpose and… Kurt said the same thing but still he…" Tears were forming at the corners of his eyes again but he didn't allow them to fall. Charles turned away and stared at the ground, trying to compose himself. "he…"

Logan grabbed him by the shoulders and turned him to face him. "Don't you _dare_ compare me to _him_."

Charles stared up at him wide eyed, slightly frightened by the sudden anger he saw in the other man's eyes. He hadn't meant to compare them just… but the more he ran through what he was about to say in his head the more he realized he actually had been comparing the two.

Logan pulled him into a tight embrace. Charles closed his eyes and let himself just be held for a little while. It truly felt nice being in Logan's arms again but he knew, without a doubt he'd rather have Erik be the one holding him.

After a while of silence Logan let him go, he didn't open his eyes yet, just sat with his eyes closed. He could hear Logan shifting beside him and then the faint warm was gone. Opening his eyes he looked at the man that was kneeling before him. Logan was kneeling on one knee.

He felt his heart stop and his insides twist into painful knots. "Logan, what are you-"

"Charles I love you and last night you said you felt the same. I want to spend the rest of my life fixing my mistake."

Charles couldn't breathe. He couldn't remember last night still and it was bad enough that he had called Erik when he was drunk, had he also called Logan? "Last night—Logan please get up."

"No, Charles. You're all I've wanted for four years. I was a fool to not have done this sooner." He took both of Charles' hands in his and smiled faintly. "Charles, will you—"

"_Stop_!" Charles cried pulling his hands away as he vigorously shook his head. "Logan stop…" He reached out and cupped Logan's stubbly cheeks. "No…"

"Last night you—"

"I was drunk; I don't remember calling you at all." Despite trying to keep himself composed his voice shook and broke, betraying all that emotions he was trying to hide. "Listen to me now, you don't want me."

"I—"

"Stop." He shook his head faintly as he stroked Logan's cheek. "I'm not the one, Logan. I'm not and deep down you know that." The look Logan was giving him was heart shattering and he couldn't stop the tears from forming but he tried to stay strong, "I'm not the one."

"So you lied." Anger took the place of heartbreak on Logan face and he grabbed Charles' wrists and pulled his hands away from his face. "Did you like stringing me along, Charles, was it fun?" With that he let go of Charles and stalked off in the direction they have entered the park from.

"Logan!" Charles quickly got up at hurried after him.

* * *

><p>"Logan, I'm sorry, how many times do I have to say it before you'll listen?" Charles had been trying to apologize as he followed Logan back to the bar.<p>

Logan just kept walking, trying to ignore Charles as much as he could. His anger was slowly getting the best of him; he could feel it boiling under the surface, asking to be let out.

"Logan, please." Charles reached out and grabbed the older man's arm to stop him from walking away anymore.

That was when he snapped; Logan wheeled around and grabbed Charles, shoving him up against the nearest wall. Charles made a noise of surprise then a whimper when he was slammed into the wall. "Shut up." He growled keeping the younger man pinned.

The longer he looked into the frightened baby blues the angrier he got. Why couldn't Charles just understand that he was playing with his emotions by doing this? One second he's saying he misses him over the phone the next he's ripping his heart out.

"Logan, I—"

"Shut up!" Logan raised his hand, about to punch him.

Charles closed his eyes tight, waiting for the punch to land but it never did. Instead he heard a familiar voice yelling "What the hell do you think you're doing? Get off of him!"

He opened his eyes and saw Erik had a hold of Logan's wrist, keeping him from hitting him, and was pulling Logan off of him. "Erik!" He smiled in relief but an instant later his smile was gone. He wished he'd just kept his mouth shut…

"Erik?" Logan growled and shoved the professor away from him. "So you're _Erik_." The look he shot Charles said everything; he connected all of the dots Charles feared he would.

Charles' eyes widened and he covered his mouth when Logan's fist made contact with Erik's face. He watched in shocked horror as Erik fought back.

It was his fault they were fighting, Logan yelling about how Erik ruined Charles, Erik easily defending himself as if he'd been in a hundred fights before. After he managed to get a hold of himself Charles ran over to them to pull the two apart. "Stop it! Both of you stop!"

"Charles!" Erik pushed him out of the way of one of Logan's punches. The punch, instead of hitting Charles got Erik in the diaphragm, unable to be block because he was distracted it knocked the window out of him while Charles lost his footing after being shoved and hit the ground.

He quickly got up and turned to see Logan repeatedly hitting Erik who was still recovering from having the wind knocked out of him. He didn't know what to do to get Logan off of him, he hurried over and grabbed Logan's wrist to stop him from punching Erik anymore. "Stop it Logan!" The man only shoved Charles off and turned back to the professor.

"_Logan, stop it!"_ He screamed as loud as he could.

Logan finally let go of Erik and turned on Charles. "You are actually with this guy?"

Charles backed away, staring at Logan unsure how to answer him without risking him going off. He started walking around Logan, his gaze never leaving the other man's until he got close enough to Erik so that he could kneel at his side. He looked at the bruises that were already beginning to form and felt tears burning the edge of his vision as he softly touched Erik's face.

Looking up at Logan he just stared for a long time before nodding slowly. "Yes. I'm with him." Erik took Charles' hand from his cheek and held it. Charles helped Erik to his feet, even though he really didn't need the help; the professor knew how to fight and could clearly take a punch.

"Charles you do realize he's the one that broke us up! He's the reason I snapped. He's what came between us."

Charles smiled sadly. "No, Logan, this was falling apart long before Erik came around." He felt Erik give his hand a reassuring squeeze. "That's why it fell apart so easily…"

"No, Charles everything was fine before him, after that you messed it up."

"Probably because he could have someone better that wouldn't treat him like a punching bag." Erik spoke up, stepping slightly in front of Charles to act as his shield.

"Erik..." Charles saw rage flicker in Logan's eyes, just like it had Halloween, and he reached out to pull Erik back but he stayed right where he was.

"If he wasn't such a _slut_ when he's drunk then you would never have had a real chance."

Charles felt his heart stop and all he could do was stare at Logan, the hurt he felt from _that word_ was written all over his face. Logan knew everything about Charles' passed but he still chose to use that word. As he stared at his ex he felt anger stirring beneath the surface until he snapped and marched up to him and punched Logan in the face as hard as he could. He continued to hit his ex as many times as he could before he recovered enough to retaliate.

Logan's fist found his face and he knocked Charles down into the street. When he fell Charles felt his ankle twist and a sharp pain shot up his leg causing him to cry out. It all happened so fast that by the time Erik had time to reacted Charles was trying to back away from Logan as the older man stalked up to him, clearly intent on hurting him.

Erik quickly grabbed Logan and pulled him away from Charles, practically throwing him into the sidewalk.

Charles knew he couldn't stay in the street but his ankle hurt too much to use it. Still he slowly got to his feet, his injury causing a shooting pain whenever he tried to put even the slightest weight on it. He clenched his teeth and closed his eyes as he tried to limp toward the safety of the sidewalk, having to stop every step because it just hurt too much to walk.

"Charles!"

He heard both Logan and Erik scream his name, opening his eyes and looking over at them they had stopped fight and were both heading straight for him. He didn't understand what the matter was until he heard the sound of a car horn and turned seeing a car speeding right for him…

"_CHARLES!"_


	17. Chapter 17

To everyone that has stuck with me this far, thank you, I really hope you all enjoyed it.  
>Special wishes to Nehan Shinzui34 for the letting me fill this prompt for her, it's been so much fun.<p>

Fixed it.

**Chapter 17: Valentine's day**

It had been three months since the accident but to him it felt like longer, as if time had slowed down or maybe even stopped that day and it still hadn't resumed. At the moment he stood by the window smiling to himself as he watched the sun ever so slowly set behind the trees. Shades of beautiful pinks and purples painted the sky which seemed all too fitting for what day it was…

Today was Valentine's day.

But as the sun disappeared completely behind the trees and the darkness of night to the place of the bright colors his thoughts turned darker. His mind turned back to the accident like it did so many nights. He managed to busy himself for most of the day enough that he didn't think about it but it was impossible to truly forget.

* * *

><p><em>The car sped towards Charles as he limped back toward the sidewalk to get out of the middle of the street as fast as he could. Charles clearly hadn't seen or heard the car coming until he heard the two men on the sidewalk scream his name in warning. The scene was like an accident in a cliché romance movie where the leading lady, Charles in this case, was in the street unable to move fast enough to safety because he was hurt having twisted his ankle, while the driver wasn't paying enough attention to the road to slam on the breaks until doing so wouldn't have changed the outcome.<em>

_He had run into the street to grab Charles and get him out of the way, get him to the safety of the sidewalk so he wouldn't be hurt but he was too late. He could only watch in horror as the car hit at almost full force and Charles was tossed over the back, landing harshly in the middle of the street in a crumpled heap._

_He wasn't able to move for a long time, all muscles had locked in place making running to the younger man's side impossible until he heard someone yelling for someone to "__Call for an ambulance!" He didn't realize that person had been him, screaming for someone to call for help. The moment hi muscles 'unlocked' he rushed to Charles'. _

_His body was shaking from the pain as he tried to stop the quiet whimpers and pained gasps from leaving him by biting his lip. He found was scared to touch him, he didn't want to cause him any more hurt than he was already feeling. "Charles…" He whispered softly as he gently brushed the younger man's hair off his forehead._

_Charles opened his eyes and smiled sadly up at him, he couldn't help but thing about how he looked so small and terrified behind that smile. His stomach tie into knots when he realized this was the look someone gave a loved one when they knew they were dying but didn't want to worry that person. "Erik." His voice shook as he tried to fight the tears pooling at the corners of his eyes even as they slipped free anyway._

_Erik, as gently and as carefully as he could, pulled Charles half way onto his lap and held him close. He wanted to say it would be okay that Charles would be completely fine but he didn't know if that was true. He could feel the familiar tackiness of blood and a huge bump start to form on the back of his head as he stroked Charles' hair. He started whispering sweet nothings in several different languages, quietly promising him he would translate them for him later when the younger man said he didn't understand something._

_They stayed like that, not paying anyone else around them any attention until the ambulance came. The paramedics came and had to practically pry Erik off of Charles, who had lost consciousness at some unknown point, to get him in the ambulance._

_Erik didn't move from where he sat in the street, he could only watch as they carried Charles away and got him in the back of the ambulance so they could take him to the hospital. He would have stayed there like that watching as the ambulance disappeared down the street but a hand on his shoulder snapped him out of his trance and he numbly got to his feet. "Let's go, we can meet them at the hospital." Logan said as he ushered Erik towards his car._

_It was strange how Logan had suddenly changed from beating him up to shoving him in the passenger side and handing him some wet wipes to clean the blood off his hand after he got in. Logan didn't seem the type to just have those on hand. The question had slipped out of his mouth before he could stop it but Logan laughed and told him it was Charles' fault he did._

_They got to the hospital in no time, arriving only a few minutes after the ambulance. Erik jumped out of the car barely before it stopped moving and ran inside the ER. He quickly spotted Charles just as he was being taken through a pair of large double doors. He started to run after him but a nurse stepped in his path. "Sir, you can't go in there."_

"_I'm with him." He panted, finally realizing how out of breath he was as he pointed at the doors just as they closed._

"_Are you family?"_

_Erik didn't know what to say to that, if he said no then he wouldn't be able to see Charles until he was all fixed up, he needed to be with him as much as possible right now. However if he said yes then he'd have to make up some ridiculous story about their relation. He wasn't the best with improve so he would probably blurt out something like 'his brother' then not be able to kiss him when others are around without getting strange looks._

"_He's Charles' boyfriend, should be listed as his emergency contact, Logan." Logan said coming up behind the two. The nurse looked down at the clipboard in her arms as if checking if that information was correct and apparently it was because she nodded and stepped out of the way._

_Erik felt relief flood every sense and he was just about to take off running after Charles when he realized this meant Logan had just suddenly given up on being with Charles, letting him be with him instead. Erik turned and looked Logan in the eye, "Thank you." It wasn't the best way to show his gratitude for this, he would have to think of some other way to do it later but it was the best he could come up with while his mind was focused completely on getting to Charles._

_Logan nodded and told him to go and he did, he took off through the double doors after Charles and the paramedics._

_He caught up with them and told them the same thing that Logan had told the nurse when they tried to tell him to get back to the waiting room. They easily gave in and let him hold Charles' hand. He was sedated and already had a shot of morphine so he wouldn't be in pain while they waited to get him in for X-rays but the moment Erik touched his hand his eyes opened slightly._

_Charles smiled faintly up at him before his eyes closed again and they took him in for X-rays. After only a few minutes they took him out of the room and were rushing him to surgery for internal bleeding because he threw up blood while getting the x-ray. The doctor only briefly explained before telling a nurse to take Erik to the waiting room._

_Erik was ushered to the waiting room where Logan was on the phone with Scott, telling him to come to the hospital. Erik sat with his head in his hands ignoring the happening around him until the room opened and he looked up, Scott stood there. He began wondering how much time he'd let laps but dropped the thought when a doctor came in looking very grave._

* * *

><p>He closed his eyes and rested his head against the cooling glass as a long sigh escaped him. That had been one of the worst days of his life and then seeing that doctor come into that room with that expression only made it worse... He just wanted to hold Charles close to him but he couldn't.<p>

He opened his eyes and looked up at the night sky. The stars were coming out, offering some hope to those who needed it since the moon seemed to be nowhere to be found.

"Why so gloomy?" The beautiful accent instantly wiped the deep frown that had formed on his lips off his face. He turned around to see Charles smiling brightly up at him, slight concern written in those captivating eyes.

"I was just thinking."

"About what?"

Erik gave a noncommittal shrug. He'd been thinking about how terrifying it had been to almost lose that gorgeous smile but he wouldn't tell Charles that. He quickly closed the gap between them to claim his red lips in a soft kiss. He felt Charles smile into the kiss and he couldn't help but smile as well.

Charles was alive and making a healthy and quick recovery, most of the bones that had broken were fully healed if not close to it. Personally Erik liked to think it was because Charles had spent all winter break lying in his bed. He couldn't say how many times he wanted to rip the younger man's clothes off and show him just how happy he was that he was okay.

He wasn't taking no for an answer tonight.

Erik broke the kiss and picked Charles up bridal style to carry him upstairs to the bedroom. He liked to think of it as their room since Charles had been living with him while he recovered. Maybe tonight would also be a good night to ask if Charles wanted to continue living with him after he was fully healed.

He nudged open the door to the bedroom and grinned when Charles gasped in surprise. He had bought dozens of red and orange roses and laid them out like they had seen in a movie when they first got back from the hospital. Charles was out of his mind on pain killers and said how much he would love if someone did that for him. It hadn't meant to be something Erik was supposed to hear but he did and had filed it away, saving it specifically for today.

Charles just stared at him for a long time before he kissed him, passionately claiming his lips as Erik walked them over to the bed. He set him down on the rose petal covered bed and moved over top of him, neither one breaking the fierce kiss.

"Mm... Erik." Charles sighed contently as Erik turned his attention to the younger man's neck, softly kissing behind his ear. He smiled against the soft skin and drew back enough to look into those beautiful blue eyes as they gazed happily up at him.

He started undoing the buttons on Charles' shirt but was stopped by a hand over top of his. "Do you really think it's okay now?" Charles asked biting his lower lip.

"We can be careful." Erik tried to reassure him softly as he went back to unbuttoning the one in his fingers had already had a hold of hen Charles stopped him.

"The doctor said… I just don't want to be…"

"I won't cause you any damage; I don't want you stuck in that chair any more than you want to be in it." Erik reassured him as he thought of the wheelchair down stairs. Charles had been stuck in that thing since the hospital; the doctor said it was to make sure that the damage to his spine didn't worsen. He had gotten extremely lucky, he had broken his back in the accident but no lasting damage had been done to the spinal cord.

Charles smiled, "I trust you..." He moved his hand and let Erik continue to undress him.

Erik quickly stripped Charles of his clothing, leaving him completely naked on the bed while all Charles managed to get off of him was his shirt. The younger man blushed and bit his lip as Erik looked him over. He was drinking in the sight he'd only been able to have while helping Charles because now he was allowed to touch him how he wanted to.

Leading down he pressed his lips to the long scar on Charles' lower stomach where the surgeon had to cut to get to the place he was bleeding internally from to seal it. He remember being angry about it the first time his saw the stitches while he helped Charles get a shower because he knew it would turn into a scar, leaving a permanent mark on Charles' perfect body to remind both of them of that day. Now it was just another perfect part of him.

The lower his kissed the deeper and harder Charles' breathing became until he moaned Erik's name as he ran his tongue over the head of his erection. After the accident the doctor told them no strenuous activity, especially sex and the younger man had been celibate practically the whole time, how he did it Erik couldn't even imagine. Erik had the time alone during showers that he used to take care of himself or else he would have jumped Charles a long time ago.

Erik smiled and took Charles into his mouth, sucking and doing wicked things with his tongue to make the younger man wither in the ecstasy he had denied himself for so long. Charles moaned, grabbing his hair as he arched off the bed.

Charles lasted a lot longer than he thought he would have after so long. He came just as Erik claimed his lips, firmly stroking his leaking erection. He had tossed his head back in a silent cry, as his seed coated Erik's hand and his stomach.

He started kissing Charles neck, not giving him time to fully recover as he used the younger man's seed as lubricant to slide a finger into him. His body jerked and he gasped at the intrusion. "Erik…" He moaned as another finger was added, he was already half hard again as his body slowly opened up nicely for Erik.

Erik smiled against the soft column of skin before gently biting down as he thrust his fingers deep inside the younger man to find the spot that would make him melt. Erik found it on the first thrust and he stroked it until Charles was once again fully erect and moaning before he removed his fingers and unzipped his agonizingly tight pants to free his cock.

Coating his erection with the slowly drying left over cum, he lined himself up with Charles' entrance wanting nothing more than to slam himself inside the tight, waiting heat and pound into him as fast and as roughly as he could but he waited for Charles to tell him it was okay and entered him slowly. Charles was so much tighter than he remember from their first time.

When he started thrusting into him his name left Charles' lips as if it was the only word he knew. He was being as careful as he could be with Charles moaning for him to go faster or harder. He was trying to keep what the doctor had said in mind, just in case, but when Charles pulled him in for a kiss and wrapped his legs around his waist he wasn't able to hold back anymore.

They made love, hot and passionate and perfect as Charles moaned louder and begged for more, anything that Erik would give him and he gave him everything.

He cried out Erik's name as he came this time, tightly holding the man to him. Erik thrust into him a few more times before he hit his own orgasm, spilling his seed inside of the younger man. He pulled out and wrapped his arms around him and held him close as they both tried to regain their breath.

"I told you I would be careful with you." Erik laughed softly and Charles rolled his eyes hitting him lightly before drawing him into a slow kiss. Their tongues lazily massaged each other, exploring each other's mouths until Charles pulled back just slightly.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Erik." Charles whispered softly against his lips.

"I love you Charles."

"I love you."

They kissed again, both knowing this was the first of many Valentine's days they would spend together.

.

Fin.


End file.
